American Pachuco Doc Opens Strong on One Screen at Film Forum
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- "American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez" opened on one screen at Film Forum in NYC, pulling in roughly $7,500 per theater booker Michael Tuckman with a sold-out Friday show, though Rentrak reported $5,072.
- David Alvarado's documentary won the Audience Award in the documentary category at this year's Sundance and features interviews with Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dolores Huerta, Cheech Marin, Linda Ronstadt, and Taylor Hackford.
- The film is essentially self-released with support from Tuckman and was subject of debate and controversy earlier this spring over its close ties to Cesar Chavez amid sexual abuse accusations against the labor activist.
- "American Pachuco" will open in roughly a dozen LA theaters this weekend with some screenings already sold out in downtown LA, East LA, and Orange County, then rolls out to the San Francisco Bay Area on July 31 and 20 additional markets through summer.
- "Maddie's Secret" repeated at No. 1 on the specialized chart, bringing in an additional $80K to surpass $1 million domestic.
- IFC's "Night Nurse" dropped 92% in its second week, going from over 300 screens to just 33, bringing in $4,158 for an average of $126 per screen.
Why it matters: After a sold-out Friday at Film Forum on one screen, the self-released "American Pachuco" expands to roughly a dozen LA theaters this weekend — some already sold out in downtown LA, East LA, and Orange County — then 20 additional markets through summer, putting it on a comparable early trajectory to "Time and Water," which leg out to $86K domestic in seven weeks from a similar one-screen Sundance opening.
