Surprise: 'Babies' has a $1 million Mother's Day

Those adorable little "Babies."

Credit: Focus Features

Focus Features' strategy of releasing its adorably precocious documentary "Babies" on Mother's Day weekend has paid off. 

Original box office estimates had "Babies" taking in only $1.5 million in 534 theaters.  Certainly a good haul for a documentary these days and against competition such as "Iron Man 2."  However, when the actuals came in this morning, Focus discovered "Babies" had made over $1 million on Sunday alone for a new weekend gross of $2.1 million and a $4,040 per screen average.  Traditionally, Sunday is the slowest day of the moviegoing weekend so this is quite an achievement for the indie release.

Speaking to IndieWIRE, Focus' Jack Foley said, "“This is a profound measure confirming the strategy we took worked. It was so clear how much this was on people’s radar and became part of their Mother’s Day agenda to see this film. And it really came out of nowhere, without any real big brand.”

Much of the film's success can be traced to its trailer which often received a strong reaction from moviegoers in the theater.  Whether "Babies" can translate into a larger phenomenon remains to be seen, but its certainly looking like a profitable venture for Focus so far.