Wild Horse Nine, Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, has confirmed a $6 million opening weekend in North America from just 1,100 theatres, according to Box Office Mojo. The film took $2.475 million on Friday, including $900,000 in Thursday previews, and finished eighth in the busiest weekend of the autumn — with a per-theatre average of $5,454, the third-best in the top ten.
The final figure lands in the middle of the $5.5 million to $6.5 million estimate range carried in yesterday’s reporting, and it makes the film one of the biggest opening weekends ever for a Searchlight Pictures release in North America. The release was deliberately limited: 1,100 theatres, against 4,003 for The Cat in the Hat and 3,254 for Godzilla Minus Zero.
A limited release that outperformed
Pre-release forecasts were scattered — Box Office Theory projected $4 million to $8 million, while one independent forecaster put it just under $3 million. The Friday figure beat the low end of every forecast, and the weekend total confirms the festival buzz was real.
Set days before Chile’s 1973 coup, the film follows two CIA agents, played by Malkovich and Rockwell, who are sent by their boss, played by Steve Buscemi, to Easter Island. The cast also includes Mariana di Girolamo, Ailín Salas, Tom Waits and Parker Posey. It premiered at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, where Malkovich won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor — and his performance is already generating early Oscars talk.
Awards buzz meets the box office
The film carries a 92 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 79 on Metacritic, according to pre-release coverage, and it is expected to contend for awards nominations like McDonagh’s predecessors — Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin. The question was always whether that buzz would translate into ticket sales for a November release, in a weekend crowded with four new wide releases.
The international picture tells the same story of a measured rollout. In Australia the film took $754,905 for fifth place, according to Numero, and BoxOffice Pro’s UK and Ireland forecast puts the opening at £1.4 million to £1.8 million, with a theatrical total of £7 million to £10 million. With Oscar nominations due on January 21, 2027, the film has two months of awards season to keep it in cinemas — and a $6 million opening from 1,100 screens gives Searchlight room to expand.
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