\n\tBow down to Marty Mauser.<\/p>\n
\n\tA24<\/a>\u2018s \u201cMarty Supreme<\/a>,\u201d a sports dramedy starring Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet as the fictional table tennis champ Marty Mauser, broke into the top 10 at the domestic box office<\/a> with $875,000 while playing on just six screens. That\u2019s a result of 92 sold-out showtimes across four theaters in New York City and Los Angeles. (For context, Disney\u2019s political dramedy \u201cElla McCay\u201d earned far less over the weekend \u2014 approximately $480,000 \u2014 from a much more substantial 2,500 screens in its sophomore outing.)<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThis initial performance is certainly a bellwether for continued success,\u201d says Shawn Robbins, Fandango\u2019s director of movie analytics.<\/p>\n \n\tInitial ticket sales for \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d translate to $145,933 per theater \u2014 registering as the best per-screen-average (PSA) of the year, the biggest PSA of all time for A24 and the highest PSA for a platform release since 2016\u2019s box office hit \u201cLa La Land,\u201d according to the studio. PSA is the key metric for indie films, which debut in select theaters to start rather than thousands across the country. The goal is drumming up awareness and building excitement before a film expands its theatrical footprint. In that respect, the platform debut for \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d should bode remarkably well ahead of the movie\u2019s nationwide expansion on Christmas Day. That\u2019s encouraging because \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d carries a budget of roughly $70 million.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAs history has shown, a massive limited release success doesn\u2019t always lead to big box office when such films expand wide,\u201d says Comscore\u2019s head of marketplace trends, Paul Dergarabedian. \u201cBut the star power of Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet and interest in \u2018Marty Supreme\u2019 among Gen Z moviegoers should play well in its favor.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSo far, Chalamet has delivered a master class<\/a> in getting out the word for an original film. That\u2019s no small feat in 2025 when most indie releases have collapsed in theaters. He\u2019s captured the attention of the social media masses by gifting his famous friends the viral 1950s-esque windbreaker, dispatching a Nickelodeon-orange blimp to fly around the country, advertising on the Sphere in Las Vegas<\/a>, and turning the refrain \u201cMarty Supreme. Christmas Day\u201d into a mantra. Josh Safdie (\u201cUncut Gems\u201d) directed \u201cMarty Supreme,\u201d an R-rated, frenetic comedy-of-errors that follows a young Marty Mauser as he pursues his dream of becoming a table-tennis champ.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cTimoth\u00e9e Chalamet is the \u2018it guy\u2019 right now. There\u2019s no denying it,\u201d says Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock. \u201cThe promotional work he\u2019s done with this film is high-level genius. He knows it\u2019s all about social awareness. That\u2019s what creates viral moments \u2014 and how A24 advertises without a big budget.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tOver the weekend, Chalamet made a surprise stop at \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d screenings in New York City \u2014 and revealed plans to make many more drop-ins over the next week. \u201cFor your information, I\u2019m doing this at every screening, for the next four days,\u201d he told one crowd on Friday.<\/a> \u201cI got 128 appearances in the next 96 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFor many moviegoers in Manhattan, a chance to see the one and only Chalamet in the flesh is well worth the price of admission. Now the question is what enthusiasm for \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d will look like outside of New York City.<\/p>\n