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 Movie theaters in Florida,
Texas, Georgia and other parts of the country
that were able to safely reopen welcomed the
first major theatrical premiere since March:
Solstice Studios' "Unhinged," a thriller
starring Russell Crowe. The film played in 1,823
venues in North America, marking the widest
release yet since the pandemic hit.
"Unhinged" pocketed more than $4 million over
the weekend, a promising result given the
challenging environment. In normal times, that
figure wouldn't be much to crow about. However,
only a fraction of the nation's 6,000 movie
theaters are currently in business -- and major
markets like New York, California and New Jersey
are still closed without a set date to reopen.
The biggest ticket sales for "Unhinged" came
from drive-ins 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 cinemas in North America by next weekend.
"All things considered, this is a subdued
opening," said David A. Gross, who runs movie
consultancy FranchiseRe. He gives Solstice
credit for taking a bold move in being the first
new movie to open. On one hand, it doesn't have
much competition among ticket buyers. But on the
other, studios and exhibitors have yet to
determine how eager audiences will be to return
to the movies.
For their part, movie theaters have taken
rigorous and expensive steps to ensure customers
feel safe. They are keeping space between seats,
limiting the number of tickets sold per movie
and encouraging people to buy tickets online to
reduce contact. They've also made hand sanitizer
more readily available and ensured theaters will
be cleaned more regularly. And patrons will be
required to wear masks.
Solstice's head of distribution Shari Hardison
says the company's goal is to hit $30 million at
the box office by the end of its theatrical run
in North America. After its performance this
weekend, that is a benchmark she feels will be
easily attainable. "Unhinged" cost $33 million
to produce, not including marketing or
distribution fees.
"We have a lot of stairs to climb, but the first
steps are encouraging," she said.
Solstice president and CEO Mark Gill repeated a
mantra that many in the movie business are
looking to during the global heath crisis: "Slow
and steady wins the race."
Given the sparse amount of movie theaters
currently in operation and the potential that
audiences could still feel uneasy being indoors
(where the virus is said to spread faster), film
distributors aren't expecting their films to
have splashy opening weekends. Instead, they are
counting on any given film to have a lengthier
run on the big screen than it might normally
have.
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 "We are pleased and relieved to
see moviegoers took the first step to return to
theaters this weekend," Gill said. "As we have
seen around the world -- and the light release
schedule in the coming month suggests -- the
movie will have a long run."
Elsewhere, "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the
Run" collected another $550,000 from 326
locations in Canada, bringing its total haul to
$2 million. The animated adventure based on the
Nickelodeon cartoon isn't playing in U.S.
theaters. It is expected to launch on premium
video-on-demand next year before landing on the
streaming service CBS All Access.
In the U.S., a number of indie films continued
to populate drive-in theaters. This weekend, IFC
Films launched "Tesla," a biographical drama
starring Ethan Hawke as Nikola Tesla and Kyle
McLaughlin as Thomas Edison. It generated
$42,000 from 108 theaters, averaging out to $389
per location.
Dave Franco's thriller "The Rental," also from
IFC, again pulled in solid receipts. The movie
amassed $108,000 from 105 theaters this weekend,
boosting its domestic tally to $1.5 million.
Another new weekend release, teen drama "Words
on Bathroom Wall," made $462,050 from 925
screens. The film received an "A" CinemaScore
from audiences and holds an 82% on review
aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes -- two factors
that its backers, Roadside Attractions and LD
Entertainment, hope will point to positive
word-of-mouth.
The process of restarting the exhibition
industry has been delayed in many parts of the
country as the virus continues to surge, but
Warner Bros. is expecting a significant rollout
for Christopher Nolan's sci-fi epic "Tenet" on
Sept. 3. The weekend prior, Disney and Fox's
superhero thriller "The New Mutants" is touching
down in domestic theaters. Though the box office
might be slow to reach pre-pandemic levels,
analysts are optimistic that moviegoing will
return.
"This weekend is the first step," Gross said.
"The next couple of weeks will show us a lot
more. The rebuilding process is going to take
nine to 18 months. Our belief in the long-term
success of the theatrical business is unshaken."
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