'Once' Not A One Hit Wonder In US With Record Box Office Sales

The award winning Irish film 'Once' continued its expansion in the US this week. After opening in just two screens in May, it played in 95 screens this weekend and took $0.5m which put it at no.12 in the weekend Box Office chart. This brings the US Box Office total to date to $1.8m.
Positive press coverage and a marketing push continues to build momentum for the film.
It has secured radio spots on the major LA stations at prime time, full page print ads in local publications, repeated glowing critic-reviews on the PBS channel (a public access channel), banner ads on Variety and Hollywood Reporter websites and even VH1 VeeJays have been promoting the film and its soundtrack on air.
Written and directed by John Carney and produced by Martina Niland and David Collins with finance from Bord Scannan na hEireann/the Irish Film Board and RTE, ONCE is a modern-day musical set on the streets of Dublin which tells the story of a busker (Glen Hansard) and an immigrant (Marketa Irglova), who fall in love over an eventful week, as they write and record a number of songs.
(DS)