Spike Lee's musical drama Chi-Raq was released this weekend through a limited release and did particularly well in Chicago, where the film is set and was shot.
Lee's latest project is a modern telling of an ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, setting his modern version of the story among the intense gang violence in Chicago. It is Amazon Studios' first feature film and will soon be released to Amazon Instant Video.
'Chi-Raq' made an estimated $1.2 million, and was released in about 305 theaters. That turns out to be a $3,900 per-screen average, TheWrap reported. Chicago made that average look small in comparison, averaging $15,000 per screen on 22 screens.
"The numbers out of Chicago are phenomenal,” Bob Berney, head of marketing and distribution for Amazon Studios, told TheWrap. "In Chicago we estimate a $15,000-plus per-screen average on 22 screens. And in the majority of our 305 theaters we’re one of the top three grossing films. All of this is a testament to the support of the local Chicago community and, across the board, the urgency of the situation. Chi-Raq has been recognized as a call to action to stop the violence plaguing cities across the country, not only Chicago.”
Chi-Raq stars Samuel L. Jackson, Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, John Cusack, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Hudson and D.B. Sweeney.