The Secret of Kells tops per screen average on its US opening weekend
In a limited release, the award winning Irish animation ‘The Secret of Kells' drew a higher per-screen average than ‘Alice in Wonderland', ‘Avatar' and ‘Shutter Island' in its opening weekend the US. The per-screen average divides the amount of money taken at the box office by the number of screens it is being shown on and is the industry barometer which rates a films success.Playing in just one cinema in New York, the IFC Center, the Oscar nominated animation earned an impressive $40,715, which marks the venues highest single-screen weekend gross. The independent feature directed by Tomm Moore and produced by Kilkenny based Cartoon Saloon went up against Pixar's ‘Up' and Disney's ‘The Princess and the Frog' as well ‘The Fantastic Mr. Fox' and ‘Coraline' at last nights Academy Awards.
‘The Secret of Kells' which features the voice talent of Brendan Gleeson and Mick Lally tells the story of an orphan named Brendan who is set the task of completing the Book of Kells. The task sees him called to a new life of creativity and imagination where adventure, danger and action await him.
The film is scheduled to open in cinemas in Boston and Philadephia on St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) with a wider US release scheduled for April 9th. Follow 'The Secret of Kells' as it opens across the US by reading the Blog of Kells - a day to day account of their experiences.
The animation has been winning critical acclaim across the globe with many applauding the animation techniques of the hand-drawn feature. In The New York Times last week, the film appeared on the front cover of the arts section and was described as "lavishly illustrated". The article went on to say that it was only fitting "that a movie concerned with the power and beauty of drawing - the almost sacred magic of color and line - should be so gorgeously and intricately drawn".
Other reviews include
"It's easy to see how the animation nominators fell in love with this charmer based on Celtic mythology, which is quite unlike anything I've ever seen before"
New York Post
"The movie glows"
New York Press
"With its jewel-bright colours and intricate use of lines, the result is absolutely luscious to behold".
Variety
"Visually ravishing ... magic"
Screen International
Produced by European Producers of the Year, Cartoon Saloon, ‘The Secret of Kells' received funding from the IFB, BAI, France 2 Cinema, Eurimages, Media programme, Canal+ Cine Cinema, Conseil General de la Charente, Piste Rouge, Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communauté Française de Belgique et des Télédistributeurs Wallons, Promimage and Wallimage.