February 14, 2016
By Pamela McClintok
...By one measure, (click here) Where to Invade could be perceived as a silver medalist. It's the second-biggest opening gross for Moore behind Fahrenheit 9/11, which still holds the crown for the top-grossing doc of all time in the U.S. with $119.1 million. Fahrenheit, which opened to $23.9 million, scored a hefty location average of $27,558 when it bowed nationwide in 868 locations in 2004.
But it's the per-theater average, and not the opening gross, that is the true gauge of success for Moore, since all of his films, save for Fahrenheit, have opened in a limited number of locations before expanding. His last film, Capitalism: A Love Story, earned $231,964 from four theaters in 2009 for a theater average of $57,991. A week later, it expanded into a total of 962 locations, grossing $4.4 million for a location average of $4,263.
