Who said this is a “well known” documentary? How often had you heard of it before you saw this article? Your “guarantee” is crap, the distributor put it in four theaters opening weekend the results are predictable with that opening, if they are disappointed then they should have opened it wider, the fact that they didn’t shows they’re getting what they expected. Most 4 theater openings don’t turn into March of the Penguins, 99.9% of them make a couple hundred grand and go away. This movie is performing to what any sane person would expect, if performing to expectations is disappointing to anyone involved in the movie then that person is an idiot.
I’ve known about it for quite a while as I follow movies on boxofficemojo.com almost daily. I am fully aware most indies don’t make March of the Pengiuns or Bowling for Columbine, etc. Most of them also don’t have an A lister name with it either. The 4 theatre opening weekend is just to build buzz in big cities and to give it a huge PTA average they announce. The #s are quite sad whether you want to admit it or not.