‘Boy Erased’ Opens Well at the Strong Fall Specialty Box Office

So far this fall’s specialized box office is performing better than last year.

The string of strong openings continues with another initial limited release: Joel Edgerton’s “Boy Erased” (Focus Features) showed significant initial interest in its first three cities.

The thoughtful gay conversion drama is the latest of several above-average openings drawing a diverse range of independent audiences.

And it comes when several of the top wide releases also are competing for the same moviegoers.“A Private War” (Aviron) and “Maria By Callas” (Sony Pictures Classics) also pulled decent initial reactions.

The real mark of success is what happens as films expand, so it remains to be seen how these will translate ahead.For example, last week’s strong two-theater opener “Suspiria” (Amazon) went to several hundred locations with mixed results, including a steep second-day fall.

On the other hand, four initially limited films — “The Hate U Give

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