John Wilson’s ‘The History of Concrete’ Delivers Big Opening Weekend for Magnolia Pictures

John Wilson’s feature directorial debut The History of Concrete opened this weekend to a record-breaking $90,000 in one theater, delivering the 2nd biggest opening weekend for any film in IFC Center’s history, behind only Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite.

Distributed by Magnolia Pictures, the film also scored the biggest opening weekend ever for a documentary at the theater, selling out virtually every showtime throughout opening weekend, including multiple sold-out Q&A screenings with Wilson on hand.

Following the finale of his acclaimed HBO series “How To with John Wilson”, NYC documentarian John Wilson looks to the bedrock of his beloved New York City for inspiration and structure. Concrete, the world’s most widely used building material, appears as an ever-present life force, and John sets out to make the definitive documentary on the matter. After attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, he decides to use the industry-approved Hallmark formula to tell this seemingly drab story and increase his movie’s appeal. But his foundation soon begins to crumble—literally and figuratively—as he struggles to balance artistic freedom with the realities of the modern film industry.

“We’re thrilled that The History of Concrete is IFC Center’s 2nd biggest opener for any film ever, and the biggest documentary opener of all time — a testament to John Wilson’s unique blend of humor, curiosity, and heart, and the creativity of the campaign by our good friends at Magnolia,” said IFC Center’s Harris Dew. “Young moviegoers turned out in force, leading to multiple sold-out screenings all weekend.”

At the NY premiere at IFC Center, Magnolia rented a concrete truck wrapped in the film’s title treatment parked outside the theater, as well as a Gumbusters demo (IYKYK) for attendees. They created a 125lb poster made of actual concrete that’s now stationed in the lobby of the theater.

Magnolia also broke records earlier this summer at IFC Center with its buzzy release of John Early’s Maddie’s Secret, which opened to $58,242 and is IFC Center’s 7th biggest opener of all time.

The film expands to L.A. and additional cities next weekend, with more cities to follow October 2nd.