It will be very interesting to see how this fares as a three-hour film. Rated NC-17. With subtitles.

A total close to Frances Ha's (4 million) would be incredible, I believe.

Blue Is The Warmest Color
Director-writer: Abdellatif Kechiche
Writers: Julie Maroh (story), Galia Lacroix (adaptation)
Cast: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux, Salim Kechiouche, Aurélien Recoing, Catherine Salée, Benjamin Siksou
Distributor: Sundance Selects

Much has been talked about the 2013 Cannes Palme d’Or winner, Blue Is The Warmest Color. The festival, lead by festival juror Steven Spielberg even gave recognition to the film’s two leads, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux with special Palme d’Ors of their own. The film centers on Adèle, a young woman who meets Emma, with whom she falls in love with as the pair embark on a passionate relationship.

The post-Cannes public spats between filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche and his leads, especially Léa Seydoux, have kept the film in the news, even as its now famous sex scenes have been fodder for press attention at the film’s premieres at the Toronto and New York film festivals. In the lead-up to the film’s release, New York’s IFC Center told The New York Times that it would allow teenagers to buy tickets to the screening, going against the convention of banning under aged audiences from seeing an NC-17 rated feature. “This is not a movie for young children, but it is our judgment that it is not inappropriate for mature, inquiring teenagers who are looking ahead to the emotional challenges and opportunities that adulthood holds,” John Vanco, SVP and general manager of IFC Center said to NYT. High school age patrons will be welcome, at least at that venue. IFC Films’ sister label Sundance Selects picked up Blue out of Cannes, ahead of its Palme d’Or win. “We were with Abdellatif [Kechiche] for The Secret Of The Grain (2007) and we like continuing relationships with people we admire,” said IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring. “Quite frankly [those on our team] who saw it at the first screening had very diverse perspectives, but they all thought it was a masterpiece and we had to have it…They usually don’t agree on everything. It was by far and away the best film in the festival.” Sehring said they decided to take the NC-17 since some exhibitors won’t take an unrated film. The distributor also didn’t want to ask the filmmaker to cut the film. “Do I think the whole rating system is flawed? Absolutely… It’s a bit absurd, but that’s the rating,” said Sehring. “There are a lot of successful movies that have an NC-17 rating, but it seems absurd when it’s about first love and passion and nobody’s killing anybody. Two of the characters are high school students.” Sehring noted that the film received a U 12 in France, which is akin to a PG-13 in the U.S. (save a year). “I can pull together hundreds of examples of mayhem and murder and get R ratings,” added Sehring. “I don’t know what negative love and passion can have on anybody. There are times we won’t submit a movie for a rating, but on this one we thought it would be disingenuous.”

Sehring said the exhibition community has been “great” with this release, noting the “best set of theaters” are lined up for the theatrical rollout Stateside despite the competitive market. “It’s an incredibly competitive time,” he added. “We are encouraged by the critical response and the buzz around it. The movie is great and we’re confident the word of mouth will be extremely good. The performances are fantastic [and] I hope it will have a life in awards season but I’m not one to predict. As the French producers said it’s already won the Palme d’Or.” Blue Is The Warmest Color will open at IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza in New York as well as the Arclight and Landmark in Los Angeles. It will head to 5 to 7 additional markets the following weekend.

I am predicting that no one is going to want to be within a 100 feet radius of me when I watch this film.

Grossed $35,800 on Friday for a per-screen average of $8,950. Awesome start.