Fresh from its Oscar win, 12 Years a Slave can still be seen in a theater near you. Fox Searchlight will be playing the movie in more than 1,000 theaters the weekend of March 7 in hopes of snagging additional box office gold.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, leading up to the evening of the Academy Awards, the Oscar-winning film saw a boost in its 20th weekend grossing $975,931 from 411 theaters, up 86% from the previous weekend and lifting its domestic total to $50.3 million.
Although theater owners usually shy away from playing films that are out on DVD, Academy Award best picture winners are often the exception to the rule. Frank Rodriguez, Fox Searchlight distribution chief said, “They will allow some co-habitation in this case.”
The film has grossed $90 million to date with a world total of $140.2 million. It is projected that 12 Years could earn another $2 million in theaters.
In addition to big screen success, the Best Picture win has also caused a boost in book sales. The 19th-century memoir by Soloman Northup jumped from Number 326 on Amazon.com to number 19 Monday afternoon.
The Steve McQueen directed film debuts March 4 on DVD.
Have you seen 12 Years a Slave yet? What did you think?