Out director Craig Johnson's The Skeleton Twins scared up an impressive box office haul this weekend, reports Indiewire.
The film, which stars SNL alumni Bill Hader as Milo, a gay man whose problems stem from everything except his sexuality, and Kristen Wiig as his twin sister, Maggie, brought in $410,756 playing in 15 theaters across five cities. Averaging $27,383 per screen and claiming the top spot in 12 of the theaters in which it played, the success of The Skeleton Twins' limited release is a good sign the film will have legs when it receives a wider release later this month.
In an op-ed by the filmmaker published on Advocate.com last week, Johnson revealed he was encouraged to include a gay main character who is "no big deal" in The Skeleton Twins because of groundbreaking queer films such as Longtime Companion, Totally F**ked Up, and Safe. They were films that made an impression on him long before he came out of the closet because they were "movies that said it's OK to be gay on film."
"In The Skeleton Twins, the character of Milo has all kinds of issues -- he's depressed, self-destructive, bratty, narcissistic, and flirting with a drinking problem. And yet none of his problems stem from the fact that he's gay. It's the one part of his identity he's at peace with," Johnson wrote.
The Skeleton Twins opens in the top 10 markets on Friday, followed by a nationwide release September 26.
