Moonlight Sets Box Office Record in Opening Weekend

As LeAnn Rimes once presciently sang, "You can't stop the moonlight. No." Sure, the song was for disputed classic Coyote Ugly, starring one-time actress and noted non-Naomi Campbell Tyra Banks, but it can also be applied to one of the year's most buzzed-about movies, Barry Jenkins's Moonlight.

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On the strength of massive critical praise (it currently holds a certified-slaying 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) Moonlight grossed $414,740 over the weekend at four locations in New York and Los Angeles, for a per-screen average of $103,685.

To put that in perspective, the number one movie in the country--Tyler Perry's absolution of any pretensions to craft or giving a fuck, Boo! A Madea Halloween (26%)--made an average of $12,212 per screen.

Not only has Moonlight set a record for 2016 with the biggest per location average of the year, it also has the 24th biggest per location opening average for any movie ever. Come through, gorgeous filmmaking and timely subject matter!

[h/t] Forbes