Moonlight Expands Into 1,500 Theaters This Weekend

After winning an Oscar for Best Picture last weekend, A24, the studio behind Moonlight, has booked 1,500 theatres to play the film this weekend. It will be the film's widest release, reported The New York Times.

Moonlight has been playing in theatres for 20 weeks. In that time it has played at a maximum of 1,104 theatres, compared to La La Land, which during it's widest release it played at 3,236 theatres nationwide. Moonlight was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture in a bizarre win. The award was incorrectly given to La La Land after the presenters of the award were given the wrong envelope, which was for Best Actress for Emma Stone's performance in La La Land.

Moonlight has the record for the second lowest ticket sales for a Best Picture winner, according to ComScore, reported the Times. But unlike many other films, Moonlight only cost $1.5 million to make. It has made $22.1 million so far at domestic theatres. The Hurt Locker, for example, cost $15 million to make and made $17 million in 2009.

Daniel Reynolds, an editor at The Advocate, wrote about Moonlight's Oscar fumble and how it shouldn't overshadow the historic feat of the film's win:

"The mainstream media's reaction is sadly predictable. Even when queer folks and people of color win, we lose. Once again, our voices have been muted. This attraction to spectacle, rather than substance, is precisely how Donald Trump manipulated the media to spur his rise to power, and even now during his presidency. Sad.

So here's what the news should be: A beautiful, worthy film about a black queer life beat every odd to win at the Oscars. It is the first film with an all-black cast and director to win Best Picture, and the first LGBT production to triumph as well. One of its stars, Mahershala Ali, made history as the first Muslim to win in the category of Best Supporting Actor.

And in winning for Best Adapted Screenplay, an out black man, writer Tarell Alvin McCraney, stood on a stage in front of millions of people around the world. He dedicated the award 'to all those black and brown boys and girls and non-gender conforming who don't see themselves. We're trying to show you you and us. So thank you, thank you, this is for you.'

How extraordinary. How historic. How worthy of a headline."