Indie Specialized Box Office Chart: IFC’s Erotic Thriller ‘Night Nurse’ Gets Off to Strong Start

IndieWire each week exclusively shares a box office chart via Rentrak looking at the top 10 releases in specialized release, presented in full with added commentary.

The headlines about “Night Nurse” being one of the more disturbing, bizarre, and kinky films of the year seem to be working. IFC‘s erotic, psychosexual thriller from director Georgia Bernstein opened this weekend in limited release, and it made it to No. 2 on our specialized box office chart with $73,573 in its first weekend in theaters.

That’s slightly outpacing a similar film released by IFC earlier this year, “Saccharine,” which opened to around $64K from slightly more screens. “Night Nurse” opened on 330 screens per data from Rentrak, so its per-screen-average was only $223, but it’s a solid start for a movie that has been provoking some strong reactions after its premiere at Sundance. IndieWire also exclusively premiered the trailer for the film, which you can watch here.

Last week’s top specialized release “The Invite” graduated this week by expanding to above 1,000 screens, but “Maddie’s Secret” from Magnolia, now on 149 screens in its fourth week, again tops our list by adding another $168K, just a 21 percent drop from last week, and it has reached $817K domestic.

Some other films like Roadside Attractions’ “Lucky Strike” would have qualified for the list this week, but that film opened to above 500 screens and is now in its third week in theaters. Some notable new openings though are “The Isolate Thief,” which is a Sean Bean action film and Western that made $19,400 this weekend, a Nigerian film called “Call of My Life” that made $13,575, and “Barrio Triste,” a film from the Bad Bunny collaborator Stillz and Harmony Korine’s EDGLRD banner, which made $13,177.

Top 10 Specialized Releases 7/10-7/12 (all figures are domestic results courtesy of Rentrak)

1. “Maddie’s Secret” – $168,921
   • Distributor: Magnolia
   • Week: 4
   • Avg/Location: $1,134
   • Cumulative: $817,875
2. “Night Nurse” – $73,573
   • Distributor: IFC
   • Week: 1
   • Avg/Location: $223
   • Cumulative: $73,573
3. “Rose of Nevada” – $39,048
   • Distributor: 1-2 Special
   • Week: 4
   • Avg/Location: $710
   • Cumulative: $208,501
4. “The Isolate Thief” – $19,400
   • Distributor: Radial Entertainment/Shout! Studios
   • Week: 1
   • Avg/Location: $202
   • Cumulative: $19,400
5. “Romeria” – $14,271
   • Distributor: Janus Films
   • Week: 3
   • Avg/Location: $571
   • Cumulative: $81,923
6. “Call of My Life” – $13,575
   • Distributor: Film One Entertainment
   • Week: 1
   • Avg/Location: $1,939
   • Cumulative: $13,575
7. “For the Love of a Woman” – $13,194
   • Distributor: Vivo Films
   • Week: 3
   • Avg/Location: $1,319
   • Cumulative: $28,482
8. “Barrio Triste” – $13,177
   • Distributor: Film Movement
   • Week: 1
   • Avg/Location: $4,392
   • Cumulative: $13,177
9. “Jack Johnson: SURFILMUSIC” – $9,713
   • Distributor: Mercury Studios
   • Week: 6
   • Avg/Location: $4,857
   • Cumulative: $79,439
10. “The Floaters” – $8,976
    • Distributor: Brainstorm Media
    • Week: 1
    • Avg/Location: $8,976
    • Cumulative: $8,976

IndieWire’s criteria for inclusion on the Specialized Chart looks at independent and mini-major distributors with films that at their widest release at any point are below 500 screens, excluding event cinema, re-releases, and major Bollywood or Chinese North American releases.