Reverse Angle:
The top-grossing indies of 2017.
Combining metrics, “The Big Sick” and “Lady Bird” could be considered the two most successful independent films of 2017.
At the end of the year, they were the No. 3 and No. 8 top-grossing indies of the year, domestically, respectively. They collected rave reviews — although “Lady Bird” finally received a negative critique to drop it out of its record-holding 100 percent spot on Rotten Tomatoes. They’re both lining up major awards recognition.
But the top indie grosser at press time, according to Box Office Mojo, had STX studio’s “A Bad Moms Christmas” at $71.6 million ($125.7 million worldwide).
STX has had an interesting year at the box office, with “The Foreigner,” starring Jackie Chan, pulling a mediocre $34.4 stateside but a nice $140.4 worldwide on a $35 million budget. The studio also had its $209 million “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” spectacularly flop with only $225 million worldwide. “Valerian,” by the way, is the 38th-highest-grossing film of the year worldwide, so it’s a bomb in the “Justice League” sense of combustibility.
Among the less-deep-pocketed indies, the $5.5 million “47 Meters Down” has pulled in $44.3 million stateside/$61.7 million global. And there was the $11 million “Wind River” ($33.8 million/$40.4 million global).
Among other awards contenders, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” currently has $22.9 million domestically on a $12 million budget and looks to have legs as the honors pile up. “The Disaster Artist” already has $16 million after only three weeks. “I, Tonya” was in only four venues at press time (racking up $1.3 million), but figures to expand widely, considering the nominations actresses Margot Robbie and Allison Janney are receiving.