Moonlight expanding to widest release yet after Best Picture win

Moonlight is basking in the afterglow of Oscar success.

Having claimed Academy Awards for supporting actor, adapted screenplay, and best picture — the latter in dramatic fashion — Barry Jenkins’ lyrical indie drama is expanding to more than 1,500 theaters this weekend. That number represents the film’s widest footprint in 20 weeks of release, during which it has grossed about $22 million at the domestic box office.

Directed by Jenkins and based on a play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight tells the story of Chiron, a young, gay black man coming of age in Miami’s impoverished Liberty City neighborhood. Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes portray Chiron across the film’s three chapters; Mahershala Ali, who won the Oscar for supporting actor, plays an empathetic drug dealer and father figure named Juan.

The morning after the Oscars, Jenkins spoke to EW and reflected on his film’s surprising triumph.

“It’s only been like, 12 hours, so I think I’m still processing it … but it’s wonderful,” he said. “If I took myself out of my body and I looked at what happened, I would be inspired. I think for a long time certain narratives, certain people just weren’t considered, and for the academy to make this considerable gesture, to see through all those barriers or perceived barriers and just see the film, that’s something.”

Moonlight was also released on Blu-ray and DVD today.