By Rebecca Rubin
LOS ANGELES, Variety.com – After months of movie theater closures, the U.S. Box It has opened up to the greatest extent since the pre-pandemic era.
Theaters in Florida, Texas, Georgia and other parts of the country that were able to reopen safely hosted the first primary theatrical premiere since March: “Unhinged” through Solstice Studios, a mystery starring Russell Crowe. The film was screened in 1823 theaters in North America, marking the largest premiere since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Unhinged” pocketed more than $4 million over the weekend, a promising result given the challenging environment. Normally, that figure wouldn’t be very interesting. However, only a fraction of the country’s 6,000 theaters are in operation lately, and primary markets such as New York, California, and New Jersey remain closed without a constant reopening date. The highest ticket sales price for “Unhinged” came from theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento, as well as multi-screen theaters in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and Orlando. Solstice plans to expand the film to more than 2,300 north american theaters as of next weekend.
“All in all, it’s a moderate opening,” said David A. Gross, who runs film consulting firm FranchiseRe. He credits Solstice for making an ambitious resolution to be the first new film to be released. On the one hand, there is not much party among price ticket buyers. But on the other hand, studios and operators still have the extent to which the audience will be eager to return to the cinema.
For their part, cinemas have taken rigorous and costly measures to ensure that consumers feel safe. They stay between seats, restrict the number of tickets sold according to the film, and inspire others to buy tickets online to reduce contact. They also made hand sanitizer easier to get and ensured that theatres were cleaned more frequently. And consumers will have to wear masks.
Shari Hardison, Solstice’s head of distribution, said the company’s purpose to succeed at $30 million in the cash workplace until the end of its North American tour. After she finishes her functionality this week, it’s a benchmark that she believes can be achieved smoothly. “Unhinged” charges $33 million for producing, without adding marketing or distribution fees.
“We have a lot of stairs to go up, the first steps are encouraging,” he said.
Solstice President and CEO Mark Gill repeated a mantra that many film actors turned to during the global fitness crisis: “Slowly and win the race.”
Considering the few theaters that are in operation lately and the possibility that audiences will still feel uncomfortable internally (where the virus would spread faster), movie sellers do not expect their films to have dazzling release weekends. Instead, they depend on a given movie to have a longer duration on the big screen than it would have.
“We are pleased and relieved to see viewers take the first step to return to theaters this weekend,” Gill said. “As it has been seen around the world, and suggests next month’s smooth release schedule, the film will be in a long duration.”
Elsewhere, “The Sponge on the Run Film” grossed $550,000 more in 326 locations in Canada, raising its total transportation to $2 million. The nickel-founded adventure founded on Nickelodeon does not play in American cinemas. It is expected to be introduced on premium video on demand next year before landing on the CBS All Access streaming service.
In the United States, several independent films continued to populate film parks. This weekend, IFC Films presented “Tesla”, a biographical drama starring Ethan Hawke as Nikola Tesla and Kyle McLaughlin as Thomas Edison. It generated $42,000 in 108 theaters, an amount of $389 consistent with the location.
The mystery of Dave Franco ‘The Rental’, also from the IFC, once again earned false income. The film grossed $108,000 in 105 theaters this weekend, bringing the national total to $1.5 million.
Another new weekend premiere, the youth drama “Words on Bathroom Wall”, grossed $462,050 on 925 screens. The film has won a CinemaScore “A” from the public and has 82% in review aggregation Rotten Tomatoes, two points that its sponsors, Roadside Attraction and LD Entertainment, hope to imply a positive word of mouth.
The procedure to restart the exhibit industry has been delayed in many parts of the country as the virus continues to increase, but Warner Bros. expects a major release of Christopher Nolan’s epic sci-fi “Tenet” on September 3. Last weekend. The mystery of Disney and Fox superheroes “The New Mutants” hits national cinemas. While the box would possibly take time to succeed at pre-pandemic levels, analysts are confident that cinema will return.
“This weekend is the first step,” Gross said. “The next two weeks will show us much more. The reconstruction procedure will take nine to 18 months. Our confidence in the long-term good fortune of the theater industry is unwavering.”