The “Columbus” movie ended its record-setting six-week local run Saturday with 8,953 tickets sold for viewings at YES Cinema, located in downtown Columbus amid many of the city’s architecturally significant buildings in the film, according to theater staff.
And the iTunes release version of the film available Nov. 4 for $12.99 will include bonus features such as director Kogonada’s documentary, and deleted scenes from locales such as the Crump Theatre and Hamilton Center Ice Arena.
“I think they’ve done a good job at creating added value for people who already have seen the film,” said Erin Hawkins, director of marketing for the Columbus Area Visitors Center.
The movie focuses on a 19-year-old Columbus resident, played by Haley Lu Richardson, trying to decide whether to leave home and pursue her dreams as she cares for her mother, a recovering addict. She strikes up a friendship with a 29-year-old man, played by John Cho, visiting the city from Korea to be with his seriously ill architect/scholar father who had came to town to deliver an architectural talk.
The YES ticket tally for “Columbus” was more than double that of the theater’s previous most popular flick over a 13-year history. “The King’s Speech” sold 3,700 tickets in nine weeks in 2011.
“Initially, I would have been happy with 5,000 tickets sold (for ‘Columbus’),” said Randy Allman, executive director of the nonprofit Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center that operates the theater. “But we reached that so quickly.”
By the movie’s Sept. 1 local opening day, when YES hosted a red-carpet event with film leads Cho and Richardson and Kogonada, 3,000 tickets already had seen sold. Advance tickets for “Columbus” had gone on sale July 10, almost eight weeks ahead of the city’s initial screening.
That night and the next day, Cho — who regularly has gushed about the city on local, national and social media since he arrived for filming in late July 2016 — said he hoped local residents would take ownership of the film and embrace it.
Before and during the film’s local run, it has received highly favorable reviews in such major media outlets as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and NBC News.
The film sold out early for a Heartland Film Festival showing Monday night in Castleton.
Nationally, the film has grossed an estimated $942,500 at the box office, according to Box Office Mojo, which tracks such figures.
It continues to be shown in theaters across the nation. As of last weekend, “Columbus” was playing in 35 theaters, in 22 states. Fourteen new bookings are scheduled between Wednesday (Boulder, Colorado) and late February (Palm Springs, California).
Although its local run has ended, YES Cinema’s interest in the film may not be finished just yet.
“There’s a possibility that we would bring it back (for another run) sometime in the next few months,” Allman said.
The Columbus Area Visitors Center hopes to sell the “Columbus” DVD at its office, Hawkins said. But a release date for the disc has not been set.
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The Columbus Area Visitors Center has been handing out a “Guide to the Movie Sites for ‘Columbus’ — A film by Kogonada” since shortly after the movie opened Sept. 1 at YES Cinema.
The guide lists 10 specific locations shown in the movie, and a synopsis of the dialog between characters in the scene which relates to the architect or architecture: the Inn at Irwin Gardens, Bartholomew County Library, First Christian Church, Irwin Conference Center, Mill Race Park, Columbus City Hall, Mental Health Center, North Christian Church, First Financial Bank branch on Creekview Drive and Southside Elementary School.
Several secondary locations from “Columbus” filming are also listed, including Friendship Alley, Robert N. Stewart Bridge, Bartholomew County Memorial for Veterans, Columbus Regional Hospital, Viewpoint Books, Henry Social Club, Columbus Container and Haw Creek.
The “Guide to the Movie Sites” is available for free at the visitors center, 506 Fifth St. A tour map showing locations on a city street map is $3.
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For more information on the “Columbus” movie, visit its official website, columbusthemovie.com/
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