“The History of Concrete” surpassed the $1 million mark at the box office on Saturday, becoming the highest-grossing platform-distributed documentary of 2026. It reached the milestone after just 16 days in theaters.
Magnolia acquired “The History of Concrete” out of the Sundance Film Festival, where it attracted a great deal of coverage for its creator, John Wilson, the star of the cult favorite HBO series “How To with John Wilson.” The film examines urbanism and architecture and lives up to its title by chronicling the history of concrete in an absurdist fashion (Wilson tries to make the film in the style of a Hallmark movie).
“The History of Concrete” grossed just over $450,000 from 160 screens over the weekend, putting its total at just north of $1.2 million. That’s a huge number for a documentary and a testament to the fan base that Wilson has developed.
The History of Concrete already shattered records
“The History of Concrete” already shattered records at the IFC Center, becoming its second highest-grossing debut behind “Parasite.” Last week, Magnolia saw strong numbers for the film in many markets, including earning $47,510 at the Music Box in Chicago, $34,534 at BAM in Brooklyn, and $24,653 at the Balboa, a small neighborhood theater in San Francisco. Low Cinema, a theater that Wilson operates in Ridgewood, Queens, has sold out every show of “History of Concrete” through the end of October. Audiences at the arthouses were predominantly comprised of younger moviegoers, the same demographic driving cinemas’ comeback this year.
“The History of Concrete” has yet to match the grosses of other documentaries this year that debuted on many more screens. “Melania,” Brett Ratner’s penetrating exploration of the life of First Lady Melania Trump, packed in the MAGA faithful to the tune of $16.7 million. That would be a strong result had Amazon MGM Studios not shelled out $40 million to buy the film and tens of millions more to market it. The suspiciously large price tag suggested Jeff Bezos might have had more on his mind than just a love of nonfiction moviemaking. President Donald Trump later reported that he and his wife made $10.71 million in licensing fees from the deal. America, right?
Neon also scored with “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” which opened across 325 Imax theaters (not as a platform roll-out like “The History of Concrete”) and ultimately earned $23.5 million globally and $13.6 million domestically. In its second weekend, “EPiC” was playing in 1,963 theaters. “Melania” opened across 1,778 screens.
In terms of documentaries that were rolled out
In terms of documentaries that were rolled out in a platform fashion instead of going wide first, Kino Lorber’s “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World” earned $773,430, the independently released “Steal This Story, Please!” netted $750,077, and Watermelon Pictures’ “American Doctor” earned $556,703.
The success of “The History of Concrete” is good news for Magnolia, which also had a surprise hit last summer with John Early’s directorial debut, “Maddie’s Secret.”
