‘Depeche Mode: Spirits in the Forest’ Sounds a Box-Office High Note (EXCLUSIVE)

By Stewart Clarke

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “Depeche Mode: Spirits in the Forest,” the film by Anton Corbijn that follows the band and a group of fans on its Global Spirit Tour, has hauled in $4.5 million at the box office, making it one of the best-performing event cinema releases of the year.

The Trafalgar Releasing, Sony Music Entertainment and BBH Entertainment film was released in 76 countries. On its opening night at the global box office, the film landed in the No. 2 spot in U.K. and Italy and No. 3 in Mexico. It was also a standout success in Germany, taking the No. 2 spot on the night it was released, with box office receipts totaling $1.3 million. Globally there were about 220,000 admissions across 2,800 cinemas.

played to more than three million fans at 115 shows on the Global Spirit tour. Filmmaker Corbijn is a longtime artistic collaborator with the band. His film meshes the stories of six fans with performances by the group at the final shows of its 2017-18 tour at Berlin’s famed Waldbühne (“Forest Stage”). Documentary footage was filmed in the fans’ hometowns across the globe.

has fared well with music-driven event releases. It worked on the BTS concert movies, which set attendance and box office records for event releases. “We are incredibly pleased to see audiences from around the world come to celebrate the truly iconic Depeche Mode,” said Marc Allenby, CEO of Trafalgar Releasing. “‘Spirits in the Forest’ illustrates the profound power of their music on their fans, and we saw it translate fantastically on this big screen outing.”