As moviegoers begin to steadily go back to the movies, the long-delayed The New Mutants finally hit screens in Thursday night previews before going wide today and the movie pulled in a respectable figure considering several major markets are out of play.
The New Mutants grossed $750,000 in Thursday night previews domestically. That’s a respectable figure considering California and New York movie theaters, the biggest box office markets in the States, still remain closed. The preview number matches Stuber, which went on to open with an $8.2 million weekend in July 2019. It’s better than 2018’s Strangers: Prey at Night, which generated $610,000 in previews and a $10.4 million launch weekend, and 2019’s Bad Times at the El Royale, which took in $575,000 in previews and $7.1 million for its first weekend. Keep in mind all of these films had the benefit of a pandemic free launch with all their screens in play so this makes the preview numbers for The New Mutants more impressive. The film is tracking to debut in first place with an opening of $7-10 million and the studio is hoping the film has some legs in the weeks ahead.
The New Mutants was directed by Josh Boone and stars Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga, Blu Hunt, and Henry Zaga as young mutants held in a secret facility fighting to save themselves. It was originally intended for release in 2018 from 20th Century Fox but has been delayed several times since then, mostly due to the Disney/Fox merger. Much like last week’s Unhinged, The New Mutants is getting a slew of publicity that it likely wouldn’t have had in a normal marketplace due to the pandemic and it’s crazy behind the scenes road to the big screen.
