John Wilson’s ‘The History of Concrete’ Breaks Box Office Records With $90K Single-Theater Opening

John Wilson just pulled off one of the year’s most impressive theatrical runs.

His feature debut, The History of Concrete, earned $90,000 at a single theater over opening weekend. That makes it the second-biggest opening in IFC Center history, behind only Parasite. It’s also the highest-grossing documentary opening the New York venue has ever seen.

The film, which sits at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, sold out nearly every screening all weekend, including multiple Q&As with Wilson in attendance.

“Young moviegoers turned out in force, leading to multiple sold-out screenings all weekend,” said IFC Center’s Harris Dew.

Magnolia Pictures, the distributor behind the release, hasn’t been shy about making noise. They parked a concrete truck wrapped in the film’s key art outside the theater for the premiere, staged a live Gumbusters demo, and commissioned a 125-pound poster made of actual concrete that now sits in the IFC Center lobby.

This is Magnolia’s second record breaker at IFC Center this year. John Early’s Maddie’s Secret opened to $58,242 over the summer, landing as the theater’s seventh-biggest opener ever.

The film expands to Los Angeles and other cities next weekend, with wider rollout planned for early October. Magnolia is also partnering with the NYC Department of Education to host a free screening for high school students in architecture, construction, and film programs later this month.

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