'Spring Breakers' Does Shockingly Well on Limited Release
by Shannon Keirnan
James Franco has a vice grip on the box office lately, with “Oz: The Great and Powerful” raking in a whopping $42.4 million.
Though on a smaller scale, his other flick “Spring Breakers” is also making a name for itself. The film hit theaters on a limited release for the weekend, but brought in $270,000 on just three screens, making it the biggest limited debut of the year thus far.
Big names like Vanessa Hudgens, “Pretty Little Liars” star Ashley Benson, and Selena Gomez are largely credited with the draw.
“The crowd this weekend was overwhelmingly young,” said Nicolette Aizenberg, A24’s head of publicity. “I think James Franco was a huge draw, and the girls have been everywhere. Selena’s fans are a little bit younger, so we didn’t go after them directly, but her audience still showed up.”
Did people really show up to see Selena Gomez off her Disney “good girl” persona as one of the group of girls who robs a restaurant to fund their spring break?
"I wasn't scared. I definitely wanted to do this," she said, when asked about shedding her wholesome exterior. "I thought it would be a great opportunity for me, and Harmony [Korine, the director] explained the movie perfectly and that's the reason why [I chose to do the film]… I didn't really know what I was getting myself into but while we were there, it was incredible to create and to play and it was liberating.”
With the film’s unexpected success, it will now be routed out to around 1,000 theaters. Will you see “Spring Breakers” if it plays near you?