Indie film Lady Bird is ending 2017 with a string of wins.
The low-budget film just surpassed Moonlight, the 2017 Academy Award-winner for best picture, to become the highest-grossing movie ever for film studio A24.
This is the second record Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut has broken in as many months. In November, Lady Bird became the best-reviewed movie in Rotten Tomatoes history, garnering near-perfect praise from critics and viewers alike.
Though it no longer has a 100% critical-approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Lady Bird is still holding strong with 99%. And despite being an unusual candidate for the Oscars’ top honor, there are predictions that Lady Bird may follow in Moonlight’s award-winning footsteps to take home the ultimate film prize for 2017.
Either way, the real winner seems to be A24, the studio that has mastered capturing the cultural zeitgeist—and also turning a profit.
But while the $28 million Lady Bird raked in is a milestone for A24, it’s still just a fraction of what big-budget blockbusters pull in. For example, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 made about $390 million for Disney. And, overall, A24 still has a long, long way to go to compete with Hollywood’s heavyweights.
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