‘127 Hours’ makes steady progress

The slow-open, word-of-mouth strategy is paying off for “127 Hours,” the Danny Boyle-directed feature based on the experience of Aron Ralston, the hiker who had to amputate his own arm to save himself when he literally got caught, as the title of his book noted, between a rock and a hard place.

Starring James Franco as Ralston, “127 Hours” played in 22 theaters last weekend and took in $453,104 and had a healthy theater average of $20,596. Overall, it has made $826,093. It opened last weekend in New York and Los Angeles and over this weekend it made its debut in several additional major markets including Boston and San Francisco.

Next weekend, the critically acclaimed “127 Hours” will expand to 15 more cities and about 100 movie screens. Franco is getting mentioned as an Oscar nominee, and the movie itself is starting to generate buzz as a best picture contender. Boyle’s last film, “Slumdog Millionaire,” went on to win eight Oscars, including best picture and director.

—Joe Flint