‘The Kids Are All Right’ doesn’t do well in wide release

“The Kids” aren’t quite all right outside of the art house circuit.

Focus Features expanded its indie hit “The Kids Are All Right” nationwide for the first time and found that while the Sundance Film Festival favorite continued to play well in large cities, it didn’t fare so well in smaller cities and suburbs.

Though the number of theaters playing “Kids” more than quadrupled to 847, ticket sales rose only 33%, to an estimated $3.5 million.

Despite a change in marketing strategy by Focus to highlight the movie’s more lighthearted comedic moments, more mainstream audiences apparently didn’t take to the story about a family with two children and two mothers that meets its sperm donor.

After four weeks in theaters, “The Kids Are All Right” has grossed $9.5 million and will likely get to about $20 million before finishing its run.

That’s very good given that Focus paid about $5 million for domestic distribution rights on the movie at Sundance. Based on the movie’s phenomenal grosses its first two weekends, however, many had thought it could be more of a mainstream hit along the lines of last year’s “(500) Days of Summer,” which ultimately grossed $32.4 million.

— Ben Fritz