‘The Kids Are All Right’ opens well

“The Kids Are All Right” had a more than all right debut, as director Lisa Cholodenko’s comedic take on a modern family opened to an estimated $505,000 at seven theaters in the U.S. and Canada.

The $72,127 average gross per theater for Focus Features’ critically beloved Sundance acquisition was the highest for any movie released this year.

Indie films in art-house theaters usually do most of their business at night, but Focus distribution president Jack Foley noted that “Kids,” about two women’s teen children who seek out their sperm-donor father, also did extremely well in Saturday matinees.

“That’s a really great indication that it’s not just the [art-house] core who came out,” said Foley.

“Kids,” which stars Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, did its best business at Hollywood’s ArcLight Cinemas, the one theater it played in Los Angeles, where the movie takes place.

Focus has an aggressive plan over the new few weeks to build on opening weekend momentum as it attempts to turn a profit on the $5 million it spent for distribution rights to “Kids” at Sundance. On Friday, the movie will expand to 37 theaters.

The awkward comedy “Cyrus,” from directors Jay and Mark Duplass, continued to expand successfully this weekend, playing in 200 theaters, up from 77, and collecting a healthy $1.4 million. Its total after four weekends is $3.5 million. On Friday, Fox Searchlight will expand the film, which stars John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei and Jonah Hill, to about 400 theaters in every major city in the country.

— Ben Fritz