A small glimmer of hope at the box office in the last several days, as the four weekdays after Xmas (12/27-12/30) ticked up every so slightly ($1.4 million to $1.2 million in the previous weekday cluster from 12/21-12/24). As SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME continues burning its path through theaters over New Year's, there is no new film in wide release this week, giving NIGHTMARE ALLEY a chance to pick off folks who've already seen the blockbuster during the Dec 31-Jan 5 timeframe.

A possible problem: Searchlight is taking the film out of 225 theaters today, lowering the total to 1910 from the 2135-2145 that had been the case during its first two weeks.

Reviews continue to bifurcate between raves/qualified raves/positive with minor concerns in the big/small cities and more seriously mixed assessments in the "national"/Internet-based publications (most notably New Yorker, Atlantic, Slant--though rogerebert.com, where Morgan worked for a time, gave the film four stars). It definitely appears that Searchlight is still trying to churn more press wherever it can.

The NOIR CITY e-zine entered the picture in its just-released "issue 33," with a "carny noir" feature, an interview with Del Toro/Morgan, and a review from Eddie--materials that will get covered in a separate thread.