After months-long cinema closures, the U.S. box office has opened to the most significant degree since pre-pandemic times.
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.
