Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2017)

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Theatrical Performance
Domestic Box Office $113,279Details
Home Market Performance
Est. Domestic DVD Sales $83,661 Details
Total Est. Domestic Video Sales $83,661
Further financial details...

Synopsis

The saga of the Chinese immigrant Sung family, owners of Abacus Federal Savings of Chinatown, New York. Accused of mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., Abacus becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend themselves—and their bank's legacy in the Chinatown community—over the course of a five-year legal battle.

Metrics

Opening Weekend:$12,528 (11.1% of total gross)
Legs:7.94 (domestic box office/biggest weekend)
Domestic Share:100.0% (domestic box office/worldwide)
Production Budget:$650,000 (worldwide box office is 0.2 times production budget)
Theater counts:1 opening theaters/8 max. theaters, 4.3 weeks average run per theater
Infl. Adj. Dom. BO $136,130

Latest Ranking on Cumulative Box Office Lists

RecordRankAmount
All Time Domestic Box Office (Rank 12,701-12,800) 12,702 $113,279
All Time Worldwide Box Office (Rank 24,201-24,300) 24,289 $113,279
All Time Domestic Highest Grossing Limited Release Movies (Rank 4,501-4,600) 4,534 $113,279

See the Box Office tab (Domestic) and International tab (International and Worldwide) for more Cumulative Box Office Records.


Watch Now On

iTunes:iTunes
Vudu:Vudu

Movie Details

Domestic Releases: May 19th, 2017 (Limited) by PBS Distribution
Video Release: September 12th, 2017 by PBS
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 88 minutes
Comparisons: vs. 2016: Obama’s America
Create your own comparison chart…
Keywords: 2000s, Investment Banking, Bankruptcy, Corporate Malfeasance, Corporate Life, Immigration, White Collar Crime
Source:Based on Real Life Events
Genre:Documentary
Production Method:Live Action
Creative Type:Factual
Production/Financing Companies: Mitten Media, Motto Pictures, Kartemquin Films, Frontline, ITVS, Blue Ice Film Fund
Production Countries: United States
Languages: Cantonese, English, Mandarin

Compare this performance with other movies…

Domestic Cumulative Box Office Records

RecordRankRevenue
All Time Domestic Box Office (Rank 12,701-12,800) 12,702 $113,279
All Time Domestic Inflation Adjusted Box Office (Rank 12,301-12,400) 12,306 $136,130
All Time Domestic Non-Sequel Box Office (Rank 11,701-11,800) 11,714 $113,279
Top 2017 Movies at the Domestic Box Office (Rank 301-400) 357 $113,279
All Time Domestic Highest Grossing Limited Release Movies (Rank 4,501-4,600) 4,534 $113,279
All Time Domestic Inflation Adjusted Box Office for Limited Release Movies (Rank 4,701-4,800) 4,760 $136,130
Top 2017 Limited Release Movies at the Domestic Box Office (Rank 201-300) 203 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for Based on Real Life Events Movies (Rank 1,401-1,500) 1,495 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for Live Action Movies (Rank 11,201-11,300) 11,238 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for Factual Movies (Rank 801-900) 883 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for Documentary Movies (Rank 801-900) 808 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for Not Rated Movies (Rank 1,901-2,000) 1,966 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for PBS Distribution Movies 5 $113,279

Weekend Box Office Performance

DateRankGross% ChangeTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossWeek
May 19, 2017 - $12,528   1 $12,528   $12,528 1
May 26, 2017 55 $10,357 -17% 2 $5,179   $28,284 2
Jun 2, 2017 82 $1,794 -83% 1 $1,794   $33,024 3
Jun 9, 2017 50 $12,428 +593% 5 $2,486   $50,465 4
Jun 16, 2017 50 $14,268 +15% 7 $2,038   $69,735 5
Jun 23, 2017 50 $12,643 -11% 7 $1,806   $93,170 6
Jun 30, 2017 70 $3,001 -76% 3 $1,000   $100,521 7
Jul 14, 2017 79 $1,453   2 $727   $104,621 9
Jul 21, 2017 83 $1,019 -30% 2 $510   $108,451 10
Jul 28, 2017 78 $1,434 +41% 3 $478   $111,755 11
Aug 4, 2017 79 $1,245 -13% 1 $1,245   $113,279 12

Daily Box Office Performance

Weekly Box Office Performance

DateRankGross% ChangeTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossWeek
May 19, 2017 52 $17,927   1 $17,927   $17,927 1
May 26, 2017 56 $13,303 -26% 2 $6,652   $31,230 2
Jun 2, 2017 65 $6,807 -49% 1 $6,807   $38,037 3
Jun 9, 2017 51 $17,430 +156% 5 $3,486   $55,467 4
Jun 16, 2017 49 $25,060 +44% 8 $3,133   $80,527 5
Jun 23, 2017 56 $16,993 -32% 7 $2,428   $97,520 6
Jun 30, 2017 73 $5,648 -67% 3 $1,883   $103,168 7
Jul 14, 2017 74 $4,264   3 $1,421   $107,432 9
Jul 21, 2017 79 $2,889 -32% 2 $1,445   $110,321 10
Jul 28, 2017 85 $1,713 -41% 3 $571   $112,034 11

Full financial estimates for this film, including domestic and international box office, video sales, video rentals, TV and ancillary revenue are available through our research services. For more information, please contact us at research@the-numbers.com.

Documentary Subject(s)

Thomas Sung    Himself
Jill Sung    Herself
Vera Sung    Herself
Heather Sung    Herself
Hwei Lin Sung    Herself
Chanterelle Sung    Herself

Interviewee(s)

Cyrus Vance Jr.    Himself
Polly Greenberg    Herself
Neil Barofsky    Himself
Kevin Puvalowski    Himself

For a description of the different acting role types we use to categorize acting perfomances, see our Glossary.

Production and Technical Credits

Steve James    Director
Mark Mitten    Producer
Julie Goldman    Producer
Gordon Quinn    Executive Producer
Christopher Clements    Executive Producer
Betsy Steinberg    Executive Producer
Justine Nagan    Executive Producer
Raney Aronson-Rath    Executive Producer
Sally Jo Fifer    Executive Producer
Neil Tabatznik    Co-Executive Producer
Steven Silver    Co-Executive Producer
Robin Smith    Co-Executive Producer
Fenell Doremus    Co-Producer
Nick Verbitsky    Co-Producer
Tom Bergmann    Cinematographer
John Farbrother    Editor
David E. Simpson    Editor
Joshua Abrams    Composer

2017 Awards Season: Oscars: And the Winner is... The Shape of Water for Best Picture

March 4th, 2018

The Shape of Water

It’s Oscar night and we will be live blogging the show. We will announce the winners and have our reactions as they happen, while keeping track of how our readers did in predicting the outcomes. More...

2017 Awards Season: Oscars Nominations: Final Look

March 4th, 2018

The Shape of Water

It’s Oscar night and we will be live blogging the show. Before that, let’s take a last look at the nominations with a few annotations. Nominees in Italics are those that have received the most votes from our readers so far in our Oscar contest (which is open to new entries until noon, Pacific, today—enter now!). Bold films are those films I think will win. Meanwhile, those that are Underlined are those I want to win. Not all categories have underlined nominees, because not all categories have someone I’m cheering for, or because there are two nominees I couldn’t pick between. For example, I will be happy no matter who wins Best Supporting Actress. One last note: The contest is still going and the leading for Best Picture Switched from The Shape of Water to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to tied over the time I was writing this story. This is the closest I’ve ever seen it. Guessing the best picture correctly will go a long way to winning. More...

2017 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Feature-Length Documentary

February 15th, 2018

Faces Places

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try to figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Feature-Length Documentary. This category had an overwhelming favorite, Jane, but then it wasn’t even nominated. This left the category wide open. Has a new favorite emerged? Or is it still a tossup? More...

2017 Awards Season: Oscars Nominations

January 23rd, 2018

The Shape of Water

The Oscar nominations were announced starting at just after 5 am Pacific time. They do this every year and no one has been able to adequately explain why to me. At least there were some interesting results this year. The Shape of Water led the way with 13 nominations, which is one below the current record and nearly as many as the next two films combined. Overall, there were seventeen films that earned two or more nominations. More...

2017 Awards Season: DGA Nominations

January 11th, 2018

Get Out

Directors Guild of America is one of those awards groups that spread out their nominations, but the last of them were announced today. There are some pleasant surprises and what is possibly the biggest shock of Awards Season so far. The only film to earn two nominations was Get Out. More...

Theater Averages: Abacus Counts its Blessing with $12,528

May 24th, 2017

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

The only film in the $10,000 club was Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, which earned $12,528 in its lone theater during its opening weekend. The only other film that came close was Alien: Covenant, which earned an average of $9,615. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Will Paint It be in the Black?

May 19th, 2017

Paint it Black

There are not a lot of limited releases this week, but most of them are earning great reviews. Sadly, none look like they will be breakout hits. Wakefield has the biggest cast, but it is hitting VOD next week, so most moviegoers will just wait. Perhaps Paint it Black will be a surprise hit. More...


  1. Summary
  2. News
  3. Box Office
  4. International
  5. Video Sales
  6. Full Financials
  7. Cast & Crew
  8. Trailer

Synopsis

The saga of the Chinese immigrant Sung family, owners of Abacus Federal Savings of Chinatown, New York. Accused of mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., Abacus becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend themselves—and their bank's legacy in the Chinatown community—over the course of a five-year legal battle.

Metrics

Opening Weekend:$12,528 (11.1% of total gross)
Legs:7.94 (domestic box office/biggest weekend)
Domestic Share:100.0% (domestic box office/worldwide)
Production Budget:$650,000 (worldwide box office is 0.2 times production budget)
Theater counts:1 opening theaters/8 max. theaters, 4.3 weeks average run per theater
Infl. Adj. Dom. BO $136,130

Latest Ranking on Cumulative Box Office Lists

RecordRankAmount
All Time Domestic Box Office (Rank 12,701-12,800) 12,702 $113,279
All Time Worldwide Box Office (Rank 24,201-24,300) 24,289 $113,279
All Time Domestic Highest Grossing Limited Release Movies (Rank 4,501-4,600) 4,534 $113,279

See the Box Office tab (Domestic) and International tab (International and Worldwide) for more Cumulative Box Office Records.


Watch Now On

iTunes:iTunes
Vudu:Vudu

Movie Details

Domestic Releases: May 19th, 2017 (Limited) by PBS Distribution
Video Release: September 12th, 2017 by PBS
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 88 minutes
Comparisons: vs. 2016: Obama’s America
Create your own comparison chart…
Keywords: 2000s, Investment Banking, Bankruptcy, Corporate Malfeasance, Corporate Life, Immigration, White Collar Crime
Source:Based on Real Life Events
Genre:Documentary
Production Method:Live Action
Creative Type:Factual
Production/Financing Companies: Mitten Media, Motto Pictures, Kartemquin Films, Frontline, ITVS, Blue Ice Film Fund
Production Countries: United States
Languages: Cantonese, English, Mandarin

Documentary Subject(s)

Thomas Sung    Himself
Jill Sung    Herself
Vera Sung    Herself
Heather Sung    Herself
Hwei Lin Sung    Herself
Chanterelle Sung    Herself

Interviewee(s)

Cyrus Vance Jr.    Himself
Polly Greenberg    Herself
Neil Barofsky    Himself
Kevin Puvalowski    Himself

For a description of the different acting role types we use to categorize acting perfomances, see our Glossary.

Production and Technical Credits

Steve James    Director
Mark Mitten    Producer
Julie Goldman    Producer
Gordon Quinn    Executive Producer
Christopher Clements    Executive Producer
Betsy Steinberg    Executive Producer
Justine Nagan    Executive Producer
Raney Aronson-Rath    Executive Producer
Sally Jo Fifer    Executive Producer
Neil Tabatznik    Co-Executive Producer
Steven Silver    Co-Executive Producer
Robin Smith    Co-Executive Producer
Fenell Doremus    Co-Producer
Nick Verbitsky    Co-Producer
Tom Bergmann    Cinematographer
John Farbrother    Editor
David E. Simpson    Editor
Joshua Abrams    Composer

2017 Awards Season: Oscars: And the Winner is... The Shape of Water for Best Picture

March 4th, 2018

The Shape of Water

It’s Oscar night and we will be live blogging the show. We will announce the winners and have our reactions as they happen, while keeping track of how our readers did in predicting the outcomes. More...

2017 Awards Season: Oscars Nominations: Final Look

March 4th, 2018

The Shape of Water

It’s Oscar night and we will be live blogging the show. Before that, let’s take a last look at the nominations with a few annotations. Nominees in Italics are those that have received the most votes from our readers so far in our Oscar contest (which is open to new entries until noon, Pacific, today—enter now!). Bold films are those films I think will win. Meanwhile, those that are Underlined are those I want to win. Not all categories have underlined nominees, because not all categories have someone I’m cheering for, or because there are two nominees I couldn’t pick between. For example, I will be happy no matter who wins Best Supporting Actress. One last note: The contest is still going and the leading for Best Picture Switched from The Shape of Water to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to tied over the time I was writing this story. This is the closest I’ve ever seen it. Guessing the best picture correctly will go a long way to winning. More...

2017 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Feature-Length Documentary

February 15th, 2018

Faces Places

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try to figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Feature-Length Documentary. This category had an overwhelming favorite, Jane, but then it wasn’t even nominated. This left the category wide open. Has a new favorite emerged? Or is it still a tossup? More...

2017 Awards Season: Oscars Nominations

January 23rd, 2018

The Shape of Water

The Oscar nominations were announced starting at just after 5 am Pacific time. They do this every year and no one has been able to adequately explain why to me. At least there were some interesting results this year. The Shape of Water led the way with 13 nominations, which is one below the current record and nearly as many as the next two films combined. Overall, there were seventeen films that earned two or more nominations. More...

2017 Awards Season: DGA Nominations

January 11th, 2018

Get Out

Directors Guild of America is one of those awards groups that spread out their nominations, but the last of them were announced today. There are some pleasant surprises and what is possibly the biggest shock of Awards Season so far. The only film to earn two nominations was Get Out. More...

Theater Averages: Abacus Counts its Blessing with $12,528

May 24th, 2017

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

The only film in the $10,000 club was Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, which earned $12,528 in its lone theater during its opening weekend. The only other film that came close was Alien: Covenant, which earned an average of $9,615. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Will Paint It be in the Black?

May 19th, 2017

Paint it Black

There are not a lot of limited releases this week, but most of them are earning great reviews. Sadly, none look like they will be breakout hits. Wakefield has the biggest cast, but it is hitting VOD next week, so most moviegoers will just wait. Perhaps Paint it Black will be a surprise hit. More...

Compare this performance with other movies…

Domestic Cumulative Box Office Records

RecordRankRevenue
All Time Domestic Box Office (Rank 12,701-12,800) 12,702 $113,279
All Time Domestic Inflation Adjusted Box Office (Rank 12,301-12,400) 12,306 $136,130
All Time Domestic Non-Sequel Box Office (Rank 11,701-11,800) 11,714 $113,279
Top 2017 Movies at the Domestic Box Office (Rank 301-400) 357 $113,279
All Time Domestic Highest Grossing Limited Release Movies (Rank 4,501-4,600) 4,534 $113,279
All Time Domestic Inflation Adjusted Box Office for Limited Release Movies (Rank 4,701-4,800) 4,760 $136,130
Top 2017 Limited Release Movies at the Domestic Box Office (Rank 201-300) 203 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for Based on Real Life Events Movies (Rank 1,401-1,500) 1,495 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for Live Action Movies (Rank 11,201-11,300) 11,238 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for Factual Movies (Rank 801-900) 883 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for Documentary Movies (Rank 801-900) 808 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for Not Rated Movies (Rank 1,901-2,000) 1,966 $113,279
All Time Domestic Box Office for PBS Distribution Movies 5 $113,279

Weekend Box Office Performance

DateRankGross% ChangeTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossWeek
May 19, 2017 - $12,528   1 $12,528   $12,528 1
May 26, 2017 55 $10,357 -17% 2 $5,179   $28,284 2
Jun 2, 2017 82 $1,794 -83% 1 $1,794   $33,024 3
Jun 9, 2017 50 $12,428 +593% 5 $2,486   $50,465 4
Jun 16, 2017 50 $14,268 +15% 7 $2,038   $69,735 5
Jun 23, 2017 50 $12,643 -11% 7 $1,806   $93,170 6
Jun 30, 2017 70 $3,001 -76% 3 $1,000   $100,521 7
Jul 14, 2017 79 $1,453   2 $727   $104,621 9
Jul 21, 2017 83 $1,019 -30% 2 $510   $108,451 10
Jul 28, 2017 78 $1,434 +41% 3 $478   $111,755 11
Aug 4, 2017 79 $1,245 -13% 1 $1,245   $113,279 12

Daily Box Office Performance

Weekly Box Office Performance

DateRankGross% ChangeTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossWeek
May 19, 2017 52 $17,927   1 $17,927   $17,927 1
May 26, 2017 56 $13,303 -26% 2 $6,652   $31,230 2
Jun 2, 2017 65 $6,807 -49% 1 $6,807   $38,037 3
Jun 9, 2017 51 $17,430 +156% 5 $3,486   $55,467 4
Jun 16, 2017 49 $25,060 +44% 8 $3,133   $80,527 5
Jun 23, 2017 56 $16,993 -32% 7 $2,428   $97,520 6
Jun 30, 2017 73 $5,648 -67% 3 $1,883   $103,168 7
Jul 14, 2017 74 $4,264   3 $1,421   $107,432 9
Jul 21, 2017 79 $2,889 -32% 2 $1,445   $110,321 10
Jul 28, 2017 85 $1,713 -41% 3 $571   $112,034 11

Worldwide Cumulative Box Office Records

RecordRankRevenue
All Time Worldwide Box Office (Rank 24,201-24,300) 24,289 $113,279
All Time Worldwide Non-Sequel Box Office (Rank 22,701-22,800) 22,748 $113,279
All Time Worldwide Box Office for Based on Real Life Events Movies (Rank 2,501-2,600) 2,565 $113,279
All Time Worldwide Box Office for Live Action Movies (Rank 20,701-20,800) 20,718 $113,279
All Time Worldwide Box Office for Factual Movies (Rank 1,601-1,700) 1,665 $113,279
All Time Worldwide Box Office for Documentary Movies (Rank 1,401-1,500) 1,468 $113,279
All Time Worldwide Box Office for Not Rated Movies (Rank 2,901-3,000) 2,925 $113,279
All Time Worldwide Box Office for PBS Distribution Movies 6 $113,279

Full financial estimates for this film, including domestic and international box office, video sales, video rentals, TV and ancillary revenue are available through our research services. For more information, please contact us at research@the-numbers.com.