Matthew Mcconaughey - New Matthew Mcconaughey Film 'Killer Joe' Sees Lukewarm Limited Opening Response

The new Matthew Mcconaughey film 'Killer Joe' has been receiving respectable reviews from critics ever since it premiered a year ago at the Venice Film Festival, however its limited opening over the weekend didn't return figures that suggested the film was going to catch on at large when it eventually goes on general release. The Los Angeles Times are suggesting that the film's NC-17 rating may have deterred many from catching the film over the weekend; 'Killer Joe' played in just three theatres in New York and attracted estimated takings of $37,864, which makes for roughly $12,621 per location - nothing earth shattering, basically.

To put it into some context though, the last NC-17 film to enjoy a limited release was the Michael Fassbender-starring 'Shame'; released in December to a few screenings, that film took in $36,118 but ultimately went onto collect $3.9 million domestically which made it the seventh-highest grossing film ever with a restrictive rating. The highest grossing film with a restrictive rating of all time is 1995's 'Showgirls', about a dancer in Las Vegas, which took $20.4 million in 1995.

The makers of 'Killer Joe' had sought to lower the rating to 'R', but the Motion Picture Association of America upheld their decision. The full impact of that on the film's success at the Box Office will become clearer as the film is rolled out to six more cities this coming weekend including, Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas.