The Iron Orchard, a film with deep Fort Worth and Texas roots, opened in eight theaters this weekend in Texas across the Dallas-Fort Worth and Midland-Odessa-Lubbock regions. The narrative film, released by Santa Rita Film Co and based on the acclaimed 1966 novel of the same name – considered to be one of the most authentic representations of the people and business of the Texas and American southwest oil fields,
According to the filmmakers, the film is estimated to gross $49,250 on its 8 screens this weekend for a per screen average of $6,156. Multiple sold out shows were reported in Midland, Big Spring and Odessa while the film ranked among the top films at the bulk of both the commercial and upscale theaters at which it opened.
Winner of an Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival, the film will expand to close to 40 theaters across Texas next weekend in addition to opening exclusive engagements in New York and Los Angeles. Further expansion is planned throughout March.
The Iron Orchard, published in 1966, was written by one Tom Pendleton, a Fort Worth author with plenty of oil industry savvy. If you don’t know the name, don’t be surprised. Pendleton was the pseudonym for Edmund Pendleton Van Zandt Jr. of Fort Worth’s storied Van Zandt family, who lived much of what he wrote about in the novel. The book won acclaim with critics and the public.
For more on The Iron Orchard:
www.fortworthbusiness.com/opinion/in-market-the-iron-orchard-takes-a-long-wayward-path/article_32171716-3659-11e9-8a20-7b8bfcbc80b1.html