To say that it has been a brutal year for the movie business would be a dramatic understatement. Theaters have mostly been shut down in the U.S. since mid-March, with drive-ins keeping the industry afloat. Yet, with the arrival ofUnhinged, the new thriller starring Russell Crowe, the domestic box office is officially back with its first real signs of life in months. The movie easily won the weekend, besting whatever competition is out there, which is still largely smaller releases and old favorites.
Based on estimates,Unhingedtook in just over $4 million from roughly 1,800 screens. That is the widest release we’ve seen in a long time but it still is a relatively small number of the whole when it comes to the U.S., which has over 6,000 screens when operating at full capacity. Plus, some of the largest markets such as Los Angeles and New York City are not adding to those figures. Still, considering the circumstances, for an original thriller that doesn’t have a star who, on his own, is historically capable of putting meat in seats, it’s a promising start. The movie is said to carry a budget in the $30 million range. It’s hard to know what a bigger movie likeTenetwill be able to do at thebox officebut this is far and away the most money any movie has made this summer.
Unhingedwas directed by Derrick Borte. It sees Rachel (Caren Pistorius) running late to work when she has a confrontation with a stranger (Russell Crowe) on the road. Rachel quickly finds herself and everyone she loves in this man’s crosshairs as he decides to make one last mark on the world by teaching her a series of deadly lessons. Critics were mixed with the movie currently holding a 48 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But the audience score is much more solid, sitting at 76 percent.
The next closest competition in a distant second wasThe Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Runwith $550,00. Its domestic box office footprint will be limited as the animated movie will be heading to Netflix in many international markets with anon demand release via CBS All Accessplanned for the U.S. The money came from Canada, which is still giving the animated flick, based on the long-running Nickelodeon animated series, a theatrical release. Canadian grosses are combined to make up domestic box office totals, so it still counts on the charts.
Classics such asThe Goonies,The Empire Strikes Back,Jurassic ParkandBack to the Future, which have been hanging on all summerthanks to drive-ins, continued to make up much of the top ten for the weekend. Another recent title,Peninsula, the sequel to the hit zombie movieTrain to Busan, landed at number seven with $210,000. You can check out the full top ten from the weekend box office for yourself below. These numbers were provided byBox Office Mojo.
