| No | Title | Weekend Gross | Total Gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unhinged | $4,060,000 | $5,061,000 |
| 2 | The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run |
$550,000 | $1,415,824 |
| 3 | Words on Bathroom Walls | $462,050 | $462,050 |
| 4 | The Goonies (2020 Re-release) | $260,000 | $825,000 |
| 5 | Cut Throat City | $240,000 | $240,000 |
| 6 | Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (2020 Re-release) |
$230,000 | $1,015,000 |
| 7 | Peninsula | $210,000 | $640,000 |
| 8 | Jurassic Park (2020 Re-release) | $180,000 | $1,386,600 |
| 9 | Back to the Future (2020 Re-release) | $140,000 | $247,000 |
| 10 | The Tax Collector | $121,800 | $813,336 |
Well, here we are.
The last new Weekend Wrap-Up I wrote was on March 15. The number one movie in the country was Onward, which took in a meager $10 million. The country was just beginning to come to terms with the fact that a deadly disease was becoming a legitimate crisis, something our nation hasn’t dealt with in 100 years. People were scared and the box office reflected that.
Now, in the dog days of late summer, people are still scared. Yet, they are starting to venture back to the movies as select theaters across our troubled country re-open their doors. Like a behemoth machine firing itself back up, theater auditoriums are slowly filling with patrons again. The landscape has changed tremendously. Drive-in theaters are doing more business than the few operating traditional cinemas. And why not? Watching a film from the comfort of your vehicle is far safer than hunkering down in a theater. Meanwhile, way less than half of the some-6,000 theaters in the U.S. are even in business right now. Major markets like all of California, New York and New Jersey are completely shut down and some of those states don’t have re-open dates lined up yet. In the markets where people can see movies, there is limited seating and few choices playing. Theater chains like AMC are coming back to life where it’s safe but they certainly aren’t rushing. Movie-going is a chaotic, confusing, ever-changing experience right now.
It’s frightening too. Many people want to sit in a dark theater, forget the worries of the world and enjoy a good film right now but the idea of being even remotely close to a bunch of strangers in a confined space doesn’t sound tantalizing. One cough or sneeze could make someone paranoid and terrified for the rest of the week.
A re-opened theater in China
So the biggest questions revolving around theater openings has been this: will anyone actually come out? Are people too scared? Is there any movie worth risking your health?
Well, it looks like people are hesitantly — very hesitantly — returning to theaters where it’s safe. This weekend was the first “major” release window since COVID-19 burrowed itself into our nation’s immune system and the response from audiences was subdued but promising. The Russell Crowe film Unhinged came in at number one. The movie brought in just over $4 million at 1,823 locations in North America. The biggest markets were in Florida, Texas and Georgia. Remember, much of the country’s theaters are still locked down so a $4 million haul for Unhinged isn’t too shabby at all. Under normal circumstances (Ah, remember normal circumstances?) I’d say this would be akin to a $12-14 million opening. So, given the situation, not too bad for the road rage thriller.
Crowe’s movie was by far the biggest movie on the charts but there were other contenders too, including a few familiar faces. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run came in at number two with $550,000. The Nickelodeon movie only played at locations in Canada so its gross wasn’t nearly as robust as Unhinged. Like many other movies in this new normal, it’ll be hopping to on-demand shortly, followed by a run on CBS All Access. So if you don’t end up crossing the border to catch Sponge on the Run in theaters, don’t fret.
Words on Bathroom Walls, Cut Throat City, Peninsula and The Tax Collector were the only other new releases on the chart this week. The rest of the films were old favorites, including The Goonies and Jurassic Park, which has done quite well at drive-ins over the last couple months. It’s also done incredibly well on cable TV and Netflix lately too. We are living through a Jurassic Park renaissance!
Side note: you’ll notice that almost all of the re-released films are Spielberg productions. Hell, you can even say the man was involved with The Empire Strikes Back (number 6 with $230,000) because of his close friendship with George Lucas. What can I say, people love Spielberg.
Next weekend will be another huge test for the North American box office, as more theaters turn their marquees back on and another wide release hits screen. That wide release will be the often-delayed, sometimes-doubted Josh Boone superhero thriller The New Mutants. After all this time, Boone’s movie is finally getting its time to shine. Of course it’s being released during the biggest pandemic of our lifetimes. God, that movie has some luck.
