Ghost
Courtesy of Trafalgar
Rite Here Rite Now, the concert/narrative film hybrid from Swedish hard rock band Ghost, is expanding its release.
The move comes after the movie grossed $5.04 million from opening on 751 screens for distributor Trafalgar Releasing. The haul was a surprise, as the band it not a well known commodity like Queen, who had its own rock concert film Queen Rock Montreal. But the band does have a dedicated fanbase consisting of metalheads and goths.
The movie features the band performing at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. on the last leg of its 2023 tour. That footage is interspersed with a story that features the band as characters.
It was originally planned for a two-day release, then it was expanded to 1,800 theaters globally over four days heading into the weekend. Now, following the success, the movie will expand to the rest of the week, an unusual move for event cinema, and likely will play into a second week, as well.
The top territories were the United States with $2.4 million, the United Kingdom with over $600,000, Germany with over $332,000, Mexico with over $326,000, and Canada with over $223,000.
The strong result is also a vindication for the band’s dealmakers, Independent Artist Group. The company was made via the union of two agencies (talent and lit-centric APA and music-oriented AGI), which promised to bridge the two worlds. The deal for Ghost was IAG’s second-biggest music to film translation, after the IAG-repped Billy Joel: The 100th – Live At Madison Square Garden. That special, which aired on CBS, was watched by almost 10 million people. And it also caused a spike in ticket sales, proving the case for synergy. Neither Joel nor Ghost were doing concert productions prior to the merger.
