“Thelma” (Magnolia) , an unlikely action-comedy starring June Squibb as a nonagenarian grandmother who becomes a phone scam victim, has grossed about $7.3 million through its third week. Though not a blockbuster by summer standards, in the specialized world, and particularly outside awards season, “ Thelma ” is a blockbuster, headed for between $9-10 million domestic, theatrically.
And at a time of challenge for this sector. How it got there suggests some lessons for distributors. Something clicked here.
“Thelma” debuted last January at Sundance with immediate acquisition interest, selling to Magnolia, which isn’t normally known for mid-wide-level releases. By all indications, the plan has worked. “Thelma” is already Magnolia’s highest-grossing narrative feature in the company’s 23-year history.
Adjusted, “Woman Thou Art Loosed” and “The World’s Fastest Indian” ended up slightly bigger, but both were around 20 years ago. What happened was by design. Magnolia releases a lot of films, usually of a smaller scale financially and usually limited theatrically to propel home viewing platforms (particularly its Magnet genre division).
Magnolia’s biggest films have mostly been documentaries (“RBG”/$14 million, “I Am Not Your Negro”/$7 million). Those were pre-Covid, with the theatrical market for documentaries since collapsing. Other than Magnolia’s annual partnership with ShortsTV to release Oscar-nominated shorts, Magnolia’s had no film .
