An ‘Elf’ Christmas Story: 30,000 Hats, Spaghetti With Maple Syrup And Alamo Drafthouse Watch Parties That Sleigh It At The Box Office
deadline.comThe Alamo Drafthouse movie chain looks set to hit $350,000 in ticket sales this November and December from Jon Favreau’s Will Ferrell-starring holiday favorite Elf.
The 2003 comedy, about a human baby raised in Santa’s North Pole workshop who returns to New York and saves Christmas, is the chain’s top all-time repertory title, with cumulative grosses passing $1.5 million as fans flock to its movie watch-parties with costumed hosts, props, present wrapping and spaghetti-with-maple-syrup eating contests — Buddy the Elf’s favorite food.
The chain ordered 30,000 elf hats this year. “It’s rarely anyone’s first time seeing the film. It’s become an institution for people.
A tradition,” says John Smith, Alamo Drafthouse senior programmer. Repertory fare has been crucial for theaters weathering Covid and a choppy recovery.
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