Woody Allen's 'Irrational Man' opens strong

Woody Allen is off to a solid box-office start for his latest film Irrational Man.

The dramatic comedy starring Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix made its debut in five locations in New York and Los Angeles this weekend for a total of $188,000.

That's a strong per-location average of $37,623 for the prolific 79-year-old director.

"Love him or hate him, audiences never seem to lose interest in the films of the controversial director, whose personal life has been the subject of much speculation and debate," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior box-office analyst for Rentrak.

Irrational Man expands to additional cities July 24. The film is Allen's second to star Stone after 2014's Magic in the Moonlight.

Irrational Man debuted to mixed reviews at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where Allen's presence was one of the festival highlights.

The film was beat up by critics in its domestic opening, scoring a 49% approval rating on review aggregate site RottenTomatoes.com.

In other specialty box-office news, acclaimed documentary Amy, about tragic pop star Amy Winehouse, continued to expand its nationwide release.

The Asif Kapadia-directed film made $1.09 million in 435 locations this weekend and has earned a total of $4.16 million in three weeks. Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning in 2011.

"For a music documentary to earn over $4 million in theaters is impressive," says Dergarabedian. "It shows the interest people have in Amy Winehouse and a life that ended way too early. She continues to be an icon."

Amy is also very well-reviewed, scoring an eye-popping 97% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Final numbers are expected Monday.