Small-budget films drawing big crowds

In a season dominated by big-budget sequels, smaller films are finding audiences starved for more subtle, character-driven stories -- not just dazzling special effects.

While “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” and other franchise spectacles are doing blockbuster business at the box office, the low-budget films “Waitress” and “Once” have been attracting sizable crowds as well.

And over the weekend, Universal Pictures’ raunchy but heartfelt comedy “Knocked Up” -- from writer-director Judd Apatow, whose credits include “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” -- beat box-office expectations that had grown along with the film’s prerelease buzz.

“The movie business has been absolutely historic this early summer, but there was a void in the marketplace for something like this,” Nikki Rocco, Universal’s president of domestic distribution, said Sunday. “This is a filmmaker who talks about real-life experiences and situations.”

Relationships are at the core of “Knocked Up,” “Waitress” and “Once.”

Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl (“Grey’s Anatomy”) star in “Knocked Up” as a slob and a career woman whose one-night stand becomes a nine-month ordeal when she gets pregnant.

“Waitress” is a comedy-drama about a pregnant, unhappily married woman in the Deep South, and “Once” is a gritty, modern-day musical romance that unfolds on the streets of Dublin, Ireland.

“Knocked Up” opened to an estimated $29.3 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices, a solid No. 2 to Walt Disney Co.’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”

“Waitress” and “Once,” both picked up from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, are faring well for specialty distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures.

These films, of course, won’t become international blockbusters on the scale of “Pirates” or May’s first two mega-sequels, “Spider-Man 3” and “Shrek the Third.”

But they don’t need to be to turn a profit, since they were made or acquired much more cheaply.

As the juggernaut sequels fade from their record-setting openings, the smaller films are likely to show powerful legs in the marketplace thanks to their positive word of mouth.

“There is definitely an adult, sophisticated audience looking for something besides the big blockbuster or the teenage comedy,” said Sheila DeLoach, senior vice president of distribution at Fox Searchlight. “Something with teeth.”

The News Corp. division, which scooped up the two Sundance films for less than $5 million altogether, is billing its summer slate in print ads as “Cures for the Common Blockbuster.”

“Waitress,” starring Keri Russell, has grossed $9.5 million through five weeks. Writer, director and co-star Adrienne Shelly was murdered before the film was shown at Sundance.

Like last summer’s “Little Miss Sunshine,” the film has crossed over to the multiplex crowd, DeLoach said. It was No. 6 at the weekend box office.

“Once,” from writer-director John Carney, is being rolled out more slowly, so it remains to be seen whether it will have broad appeal. But it passed its latest test, expanding to 60 theaters in its third weekend and averaging a healthy $7,500 per location.

“Knocked Up” was made for $30 million -- not a huge sum by today’s Hollywood standards. The R-rated comedy has been winning raves since being shown at this year’s South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

Universal screened the movie repeatedly for the public in recent months to help spread word of mouth.

Apatow’s 2005 smash “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” was an obvious selling point in ads. Universal also juxtaposed Heigl and Rogen in marketing images reminiscent of Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn in “The Break-Up” -- a big hit for the studio on the same weekend a year ago.

Universal can only hope that “Knocked Up” shows the sustained strength of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” That film opened to $21.4 million domestically and, boosted by repeat business, ultimately grossed $109.4 million in the U.S. and Canada.

The summer sequels, meanwhile, have generated much of their domestic business upfront before tailing off to varying degrees amid a fierce fight for space at the multiplexes.

“There’s so much competition, you can’t afford to get your money the old way -- having people turned away the first weekend only to come back later,” said Chuck Viane, Disney’s distribution president.

The best news for the franchise pictures is how well they are holding up overseas.

“Spider-Man 3,” at $844 million worldwide, is Sony Pictures’ biggest hit. “Pirates” has reached $625 million and “Shrek the Third” is starting off well in its slower rollout for DreamWorks Animation SKG and Paramount Pictures.

“These truly are worldwide franchises,” Viane said.

Gross anatomy: Although “Grey’s Anatomy” is one of TV’s most popular shows, until recently Heigl’s movie career lacked heat. In 2006, she starred in the thriller “Zyzzyx Road,” which grossed a total of $30 at the box office -- a record low, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

josh.friedman@latimes.com