You can tell the box office climate is changing if we get excited over a $4 million number one finish but this is the world we’re in now. Movie Theaters have been shuttered since mid-March and many began their opening phases over the weekend to test the waters with moviegoers. Were they ready to head back to the movies? Do they think it’s safe? Thanks to the decent start for Russell Crowe’s road-rage thriller, Unhinged, we may have a clear picture that moviegoers are indeed ready to go back.
Unhinged grossed an estimated $4 million over the weekend at 1,823 theaters. The encouraging news is that business ticked up 10% over Friday and while $4 million seems lackluster at first glance, keep in mind that movie theaters remain closed in several key markets including New York, California, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, Oregon, North Carolina, and Arizona. if these markets were open, I think Unhinged could’ve doubled its opening weekend if not more.
Another interesting tidbit, despite locations like AMC, Regal and Cinemark opening up this weekend, top five locations for Unhinged were drive-in theaters. The reason for this is that in places like California, for example, where hardtop theaters remain closed, there are drive-in locations that are thriving and that drove more business to their locations and Unhinged. Unhinged‘s top venues were the Paramount Drive-in in LA, Solano Twin Drive in Concord, CA; the Sacramento Drive-in, the Ford Wyoming Drive-in in Dearborn, MI; and the Capital 6 drive-in in San Jose, CA. After that top five, we get largely into the top-grossing hardtops which were Santikos Casa Blanca, the Warren 14 in Oklahoma City, Cinemark Pharr Town Center in Pharr, TX, the Tibbs Drive-in in Indianapolis as No. 9 and then the AMC Dine-In at Disney Springs 24 in Orlando, Fl. As more theaters reopen next weekend, Unhinged will move its location count to 2,300.
Solstice Studios’ target for Unhinged is $30 million by the end of its run which is feasible considering the plan is to have movies play longer in theaters as they await more markets to open. Would Unhinged have done better business if there was no pandemic and we were in a normal box office year? I kind of doubt it. The film, which received mixed reviews, looks like a generic thriller that would’ve normally been dumped in September but Unhinged has been graced with a lot of press for being the first wide release to brave the moviegoing experience. Add to the fact that moviegoers were looking for something new to see in theaters, this was just the boost Unhinged needed to begin its journey to becoming decently profitable before eventually hitting PVOD.
