A24 scores big win with 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” has been an Arthouse box office darling. Produced and distributed by A24, the film grossed nearly $27 million domestically in what has been among the best limited releases during the pandemic, Tim writes.

Why it matters: A24 had fielded acquisition talks before choosing to take a $225 million investment last month. The film's success solidifies A24 as one of the top indie studios.

• A24's investment — its first since its initial seed funding from Eldridge — was led by Stripes and Neuberger Berman.

The big picture: The movie theater industry is in the middle of an existential crisis as box office revenues shrink and more films reroute toward streaming.

• Especially during the pandemic, studio executives are still trying to figure out what works at the box office, outside of big-budget comic book fare.
• But "Everything Everywhere" is proving to be a sign of hope: It's the rare film not based on any preexisting IP, nor does it center on some major historical figure or event.
• Even more impressive: It grew on the backs of word-of-mouth buzz and strong critical reviews.

Between the lines: A "platform release" — where a film starts in only a handful of theaters before gradually rolling out wide — had largely been abandoned by indie distributors during the pandemic.

• Many distributors instead opted for a traditional wide release in order to get films onto streaming services sooner.

By the numbers: The $27 million is the best performance for a platform release since 2019.

• It's already made back the film's budget, which was in the range of $25 million, Deadline reported.
• This week, "Everything Everywhere" will pass the Oscar-winning "Moonlight" ($28 million) as A24's fourth-highest grossing film domestically. That will put it behind only "Hereditary" ($44 million), "Lady Bird" ($49 million) and "Uncut Gems" ($50 million).
• It has already surpassed the domestic total of recent indie heavyweights "Licorice Pizza" ($17.3 million) and "The French Dispatch" ($16.1 million).

Be smart: "Everything Everywhere" is continuing to add more international territories.

• The film premieres in Germany, Greece and Finland this week and hits Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the U.K. next month.
• A24 is licensing most of the international distribution out to partners, but will self-distribute in the U.K.

What's next: Expect the performance of "Everything Everywhere" to be a big topic of conversation during Cinemacon — the annual confab among theater owners — which kicks off today in Las Vegas.

What they're saying: One theater manager likened the film's performance to a big-budget comic book film, telling Deadline, "It's like Batman."

Editor's note: This story has been corrected based on clarifications from the company to note that A24 produced and distributed the movie, and is licensing international distribution to partners, except in the U.K., where it will self distribute.