The Master Breaks Box Office Records On Limited Release

It may on have had a limited release but Paul Thomas Anderson's new movie The Master has already managed to break box office records. The movie, released by the Weinstein Co. took a hugely impressive $729,745 in five theatres, in Los Angeles and New York. This resulted in a record-breaking per-screen average of $145,949, according to the Washington Post. It's Anderson's first movie since the highly-acclaimed There Will Be Blood and has been hugely anticipated in the run-up to its release.

The movie marks something of a comeback for Joaquin Phoenix, whose career seemed to have faltered in recent years. It also stars the ever-popular Philip Seymour Hoffman, playing the role of Lancaster Dodd, the character that is said to be based on L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of The Church of Scientology. It is this link that has created a great deal of interest in the movie and the film's producers will of course be rubbing their hands with glee that the movie's release has coincided with the media furore surrounding prominent Scientologist Tom Cruise's breakup with Katie Holmes. Phoenix plays the role of Dodd's protégé and so far, the film has been lauded with praise and won several awards at the Venice Film Festival.

The overall number one film at the US box office, however, was the new Resident Evil movie, Resident Evil: Retribution. The movie raked in over $21 million in its debut weekend; it's the fifth movie in the Sony Screen Gems franchise, starring Milla Jovovich.