Movie theaters in the North America are slowly coming back to life with about 200 locations open as of Friday — nearly double last weekend’s total, Comscore is reporting.
Drive-in movie locations are dominating the landscape with about 150 of the nation’s 306 drive-in locations now open, acccoding to Comscore. About 50 brick-and-mortar locations are now open.
Texas has by far the biggest number of open locations with 29 including several brick-and-mortar locations. Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma and South Dakota — where the state governments have begun easing social distancing requirements stemming from the coronavirus pandemic — have also opened brick-and-mortar locations.
The nation’s three largest chains — AMC, Regal and Cinemark — closed in mid-March as concerns grew about the pandemic. Most theaters are not expected to open until mid-summer with no major releases set to launch until July 17 when Warner Bros. is currently scheduled to open Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet.” Disney plans to open its live-action “Mulan” on July 24.
Earlier this week, Solstice Studios announced it will open Russell Crowe thriller “Unhinged” on July 1 with plans to launch on a nationwide basis. It’s still unclear if major markets such as Los Angeles and New York City will be back in business at that point.
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Reporting of grosses has been sporadic. IFC reported that horror film “The Wretched” had the top gross in May with $211,957. That’s followed by $19,802 for IFC’s “How to Build a Girl,” a comedy starring Beanie Feldstein in a film adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s 2014 semi-autobiographical novel about an awkward teen turned music critic.
Comscore also reported that the top-grossing drive-in during the April 24-May 13 period was the Mission Tiki in Montclair, Calif., which saw a 193% jump in year-to-year business. The site, located about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, held an informal premiere on May 1 for “The Wretched.”
The Starlight 4 in Atlanta was second on the list, followed by the Redwood 4 in West Valley, Utah, the Twilight in Aldergrove, B.C., the Galaxy in Ennis, Tx., the Holiday Twin in Fort Collins, Co., the Auto in Greenwood, S.C., the Hounds in Kings Mountain, N.C., Skyview Twin in Belleville, Il., and Jesup in Jesus, Ga.
