Box office: Indie films jockey for Oscar attention

Several of the indie films hoping for Oscar attention are moving beyond the art house to play to mainstream moviegoers. Others are struggling to get there.

“Black Swan” and “The King’s Speech” significantly expanded their presence nationwide to strong results this weekend, but “Rabbit Hole” is struggling, “127 Hours” is petering out, and “Somewhere” remains a question mark.

The Darren Aronofsky-directed ballet drama “Black Swan” is at 1,457 theaters and brought its total this weekend to $29 million, a strong figure for a low-budget film.

“King’s Speech,” starring Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, expanded from 43 to 700 theaters on Saturday and took in a solid $4.6 million for the weekend, increasing its total to $8.4 million.

But audiences don’t seem to be turning up for “Rabbit Hole,” which stars Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. The adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a family coping with loss grossed only $95,200 for the weekend at 34 locations, taking its total to $176,000.

The Sofia Coppola-directed Hollywood-set drama “Somewhere” opened to $196,168 at seven theaters from Wednesday through Sunday.

And “127 Hours,” starring James Franco as a hiker whose arm is crushed by a boulder, is close to ending its run with $9.9 million.

As with most movies in limited release at the moment, however, the Danny Boyle-directed film could get a boost at the box office by winning at the Golden Globe Awards or earning Oscar nominations in January.