Sarah’s Oil, the new PG 13 western drama from Amazon MGM, began its run in the US with a quiet start. The film stars Zachary Levi and was made on a small budget of eighteen million dollars. Even though the opening weekend numbers are not terrible, they still show that getting the full budget back from theatres alone may be tough.
The movie made four point four million dollars in its first weekend. It was released in more than twenty four hundred theatres across the country on November seven. It came out on the same day as Predator Badlands, Nuremberg, Christy, and Die My Love. On its opening day it earned one point seven million dollars and ranked third for the day. The next two days showed a drop. It made one point five million dollars on Saturday and one point two million dollars on Sunday. This pushed it down to the fourth position on the charts.
Each theatre earned an average of about eighteen hundred dollars from the movie. This is a little better than what many people expected. But the small budget still feels heavy because the film needs steady business to recover it. So far the trend suggests that the movie might not stay in theatres for long unless people start recommending it more in the coming days.
The film may perform better once it comes to streaming. Its release on Prime Video is expected to bring in some money through digital rights and ads. This could help cover part of the cost even if the theatre run stays weak. For now Sarah’s Oil is getting some attention but not enough to call it a clear success.
