Indie Theaters May Be Thriving; Indie Films and Docs, Not So Much

And let's talk about the releases of "Steal This Story, Please!" and "Ask E. Jean"

Last week, Art House Convergence proudly announced “the state of independent exhibition is strong in the face of challenges” during its IND/EX conference in Chicago, citing survey findings that show improving box office numbers at indie theaters across the country—an 8.8% average uptick in year over year grosses, reports Rentrak. Chicago’s historic movie palace, the Music Box Theatre (which just opened a third screen over the weekend), has shown an even more impressive bump, growing 10-15% since returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, according to the release.

But while indie theaters appear to be bouncing back a bit from their post-COVID doldrums, everyone should still be concerned (and I think they are) about the independent films and documentaries that are being left behind.

Cinema Salem, an independent movie theater in Salem, Mass., showing only Hollywood films

According to Rentrak data, the top three grossing art-house circuit releases year-to-date are “Project Hail Mary,” “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” and “Marty Supreme” (hardly indie fare). Other top films include “Hamnet” (#4), “No Other Choice” (#6), “The Drama” (#7), and “Wuthering Heights” (#8). (Alas, “Backrooms” also shows up in the 10th spot, and will likely climb higher with time.)

The only two true (happy) surprises for me are (#5), the touring 2026 Oscar nominated shorts program (I had no idea it was such a hit; should more shorts packages be booked in theaters?) and (#9), Mona Fastvold’s “The Testament of Ann Lee,” which grossed only $2.5 million in North America, but apparently found most of those grosses at indie theaters. Only one foreign film. No documentaries.

Source: Rentrak

And not one boutique distributor—those without an output streaming deal or relationship with a major studio. These truly indie distribs are struggling to make the economics work releasing movies, which puts downward pressures on the types of deals they can offer to acquire films, which puts downward pressures on filmmakers’ budgets and their ability to produce the movies they want to make. I know of one indie distributor that’s cutting back on the number of films it plans to release this year. And new distributor Joint Venture has gotten off to a rocky start, with a number of key staff being replaced, and initial releases such as Canadian sophisticated sex comedy “Two Women” and the Sundance documentary “André Is an Idiot” struggling to find wider audiences.

Oh, woe is the theatrical documentary. I really do want all of these films to succeed, but man, the landscape for docs just doesn’t seem to be improving.

According to Art House Convergence’s survey of 27,000 moviegoers, art house patrons mostly prefer dramas and foreign films (both around 70%), followed precipitously by horror, queer, and experimental films (all around 30%). Based on the report, documentaries don’t appear to be mentioned among their preferences.

Still, of the 58% of respondents who do watch documentaries at their independent theaters, they prefer arts, culture, biography, and history docs (around 70-80%), with 66% preferring social issue docs.

“Ask E. Jean” (2025)

Speaking of which, I’ve been closely following the theatrical runs of the Amy Goodman Democracy Now! portrait “Steal, This Story, Please!” and the Jean Carroll doc “Ask E. Jean” for signs of life in the nonfiction sector—and the results are mixed.

The good news (sort of) is that film festival audience awards buzz and the ubiquitous presence of celebrated journalist Amy Goodman herself at screenings around the country propelled the grassroots release of “Steal, This Story, Please!” to ticket sales of around $700,000, putting it among the top five grossing non-concert documentaries of 2026 so far (not far behind some Christian propaganda Fathom event docs and the heavily marketed wide release “The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist,” which only earned $1.2 million).

“Steal This Story, Please!" is the kind of feel-good liberal fighter movie that I would have expected angry progressives to get behind, and they did, aided by Amy Goodman’s already recognizable name, tenacious marketing, and inspiring real-life participation at dozens of screenings. (Uber-booker Michael Tuckman, who was also behind the filmmaker-led releases of “No Other Land” and “Union,” also shepherded the distribution.)

But why hasn’t “Ask E. Jean” benefited from the same left-wing fury against our corrupt and convicted sexual-predator-in-chief? The documentary also has a handful of film festival audience awards, and couldn’t be timelier. Just as the film was being released by Abramorama, it was reported that the Department of Justice had launched a criminal probe against Carroll, making national headlines as Trump has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the multi-million-dollar judgement against him as being liable for sexual abuse. (By the way, if you know anyone who is still planning to vote Republican, please remind them of this fact.)

Because of these legal pressures, Carroll (and her lawyer Robbie Kaplan) have not been participating in press or public Q&As, which has consequently kneecapped the film’s promotional reach. If you needed one more example of the ways in which Trump and his DOJ have found ways to restrict, censor, and squash freedom of speech, actual justice, and accountability, well, put this one on the board.

While the film continues to have mostly single-day engagements booked throughout the summer, it’s going to be a tough road for the film to earn more than $150,000 (it’s currently up to around $70,000). The film’s director Ivy Meeropol is doing an Amy Goodman-level job of attending screenings, doing press (including writing a New York Times Guest Op-Ed about some of the challenges, perceived or real, in crossing Trump).

As an accomplished journalist herself (and the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg!), Meeropol is surely an incredible guest to have at screenings. But she’s not Jean Carroll herself, whose testimony and personality is the main draw here, and whose real-life presence could have made a big difference in public awareness and interest in the film. Maybe there’s still time for “Ask E. Jean” to break out. It’d be great if could Carroll could come out for the film before the midterms elections. (UPDATE: The morning this post was published, the Supreme Court threw out Trump's lawsuit, so that may free up Carroll and her lawyer to speak out. Fathom Event, anyone?)

I’ve got to say a lot is riding on Alex Gibney’s “Musk” documentary, which Bleecker Street is releasing in theaters this October right before the election. If Gibney-and-Musk can’t crack the top ten list of the top grossing art house circuit releases of 2026, no doc can.