Following in the footsteps of Unhinged, the long-delayed The New Mutants became the second wide release to brave theaters as they begin to gradually reopen since being shuttered since mid-March. The New Mutants also has the distinction of being the first “event” film to come out since the theater closures and while the film definitely didn’t break any records, it certainly did respectable business in a very uncertain marketplace.
The New Mutants grossed an estimated $7 million over the weekend. Much like Unhinged did in the previous frame, The New Mutants saw a 4% uptick in business on Saturday which shows that moviegoing does still have a pulse. Keep in mind that The New Mutants grossed this much with only 62% of all theaters open with auditorium capacity restrictions ranging from 25%-50%. This is also without big markets like California and New York being in play so while these aren’t the grosses we’re used to seeing, it’s still a strong sign that moviegoing will continue to thrive as stronger releases make their debuts.
Strong markets like the Northeast and the West are off the map in regards to contributing to the overall gross of The New Mutants this weekend, making the South and Midwest the most potent for the Marvel feature. The film’s best plays were in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Phoenix, Orlando, Denver, and Salt Lake City. The film also drew 66% males, 34% females with 61% of the audience being 18-34, exactly who Disney expected would show up as cinemas reopen during the pandemic. The under 18 crowd repped 14%, and those over 25 repped 60%. Imax pulled in $390,000 off 206 screens repping 5.5% of the domestic opening.
