The movie Beasts Of No Nation is a drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.
Netflix, gearing to get into the theatrical release business, bought the film for $12,000,000 (more than double what it cost to produce).
Netflix released Beasts Of No Nation in only 31independent theaters (read: no AMC, Regal or Harkins theaters) because the majority of exhibitors remain unwilling to play a film that simultaneously is debuting on Demand or on Netflix or any other streaming service. And the film was released on Netflix the same day debuted in 31 theaters.
The film is dreadful, and was virtually released in theaters in secrecy, which may account for its abysmal $1,645 per theater average. Compare the $29,575 per theater average for the movie Room, also released in only a few theaters, and you’ll see just how horrible the film Beasts Of No Nation did in theaters.
Netflix and the independent studios who releases their films day-and-date On Demand and in theaters never give an accounting of how many people watched the film on TV, so there is no way to ever gauge how well an On Demand/Theatrical release really does.
