Everest: The Other Side Opens in 551 Theaters as Indie Films Fill the Halloween Weekend
National Geographic's Everest: The Other Side opened on October 30 in 551 theaters and IMAX, one of several specialty debuts on the independent calendar that week, according to Deadline.
"Specialty" means a smaller, limited release, often aimed at audiences looking for films outside the big studio slate. The documentary was co-directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. It follows ski mountaineers Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson as they attempt to climb and ski the direct North Face of Everest.
Morrison completed the first-ever ski descent of the mountain's hardest route, according to National Geographic. Chin has climbed and skied Everest from the summit, and he co-produces and co-directs alongside his wife, Vasarhelyi. Deadline also reported that Morrison repelled down a building to promote the film.
The week's other big debut is a horror film. Breeder, a psychological horror directed by Alex Goyette, is released by Independent Film Company and Shudder, the horror streaming service. It premiered at the Tribeca Festival before reaching cinemas. Deadline reported that it opened at 777 theaters, taking about $275,000 on Wednesday heading into the weekend. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes lists it at 86 percent from 37 reviews.
Other specialty openings include Greenwich Entertainment's Queen At Sea and three documentaries: Who Killed Alex Odeh?, Paging Hezbollah and Heathens.
Expansions are also on the board. Sony Pictures Classics is widening The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, starring John Turturro, to 1,112 screens. Mubi's Fatherland goes to 45 screens.
Streaming company Netflix also has a film in the mix. Peter Berg's war drama The Mosquito Bowl is Netflix's second official box office entry, following La Bola Negra, Deadline reported.
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and that shapes the wide-release picture. Briarcliff's Christmas At The Kringles and Roadside Attractions' Sight & Sound Presents: Joshua Live! are the only new independent wide releases for the weekend, Deadline said.
The week's full preview was written by Jill Goldsmith, credited as Co-Business Editor at Deadline. Weekend box office figures from the studios will show how these openings performed once they are reported.
