Yahoo News Dave Franco Horror Movie ‘The Rental’ Tops B.O. Again; Total Theaters Open Poised To Reach 2K Next Weekend – Update
UPDATED, Monday PM with exclusive chart: IFC’s horror movie The Rental came in a little lighter than expected but still was big enough to remain atop the pandemic-impacted weekend box office for a second week. The distributor reported a three-day gross of $290,300, down 28% from its first frame. Dave Franco’s feature directorial debut saw its biggest day Friday with $110,300, dipping to $109,800 on Saturday and $70,200 on Sunday. Catalog titles filled out the rest of the top 10 (see the chart below).
Originally scheduled for this weekend before the great COVID-19 exhibition shutdown was Sony’s Morbius, Lionsgate’s Kristen Wiig-Annie Mumolo comedy feature Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar and an untitled A24 movie. When those movies moved to 2021, the weekend for a short period became the second backup for Warner Bros’ Tenet after it moved off its initial date of July 17. The spike in Los Angeles COVID-19 cases, along with New York City’s take-it-safe approach, prevented the circuits from reopening, thus thwarting Tenet‘s first set of backup plans. (And of course, here we are with a fingers-crossed Labor Day release planned.)
More from Deadline
In a recent Comscore theatrical report, provinces in Canada are looking great in regards to reopening as the Great White North has flattened its COVID-19 curve. Among the top provinces open per Comscore are Quebec (81 theaters, repping 76.4% of the province’s total), Ontario (67 theaters, 36.2%), British Columbia (49 theaters, 58.3%) and Alberta (40 theaters, 52.6%). It’s no wonder Tenet will open there first before the U.S.
Compare those numbers to the U.S., where Texas led in polled reopened theaters over the weekend (76 theaters, repping 18.9% of the state’s total), Ohio (53 theaters, 28.3%), Iowa (51 theaters, 39.2%), Minnesota (49 theaters, 58.3%) and Pennsylvania (45 theaters, 21.4%).
More upbeat: sources say that total theater reopenings could reach 2,000 next weekend as more hardtops return online in what will be an eventual goal of 6,000 in the U.S. and Canada. There also is the possibility that we could have 2,500 theaters opened by August 14 as more cinemas get ready for Solstice Studios’ Unhinged on August 21. AMC and Regal currently are planning for a mid-August reopening where they can.
The top 10 for the weekend of 7/31-8/2 per industry sources:
1..The Rental (IFC) 242 theaters (-8), 3-day: $290,3K (-28%)/lifetime cume: $890,4K/Wk 2
2…The Goonies (WB) $208K (+18%), 156 theaters (+30), lifetime cume: $67.6M/Wk 1,835
3…Jurassic Park (Uni) 261 (+18) theaters, 3-day: $192K (+11%),lifetime cume: $409.4M /Wk 1,417
4…Jaws (Uni) 195 theaters (+19), 3-day: $142K (+33%)/lifetime cume: $266.3M/Wk 2,355
5…Grease (Par) 83 theaters (+15), 3-day: $138K (+41%)/cume: $192.2MM/Wk 2,199
6….Back to the Future (Uni) 126 theaters (+13), 3-day: $137K (+19%), lifetime cume: $215.3M/Wk. 1,831
7…Jungle Book (Dis), 148 theaters, 3-day: $127K (-), lifetime cume: $364.2M/Wk 225
8….Dirty Dancing (LG) 67 (+32) theaters, 3-day: $113K (+95%), lifetime cume: $65.99M/Wk 1,198
9…Gremlins (WB), 58 theaters (-1) 3-day: $109,3K (-8%), lifetime cume: $155M/Wk 1,887
10…The Karate Kid (Sony) 202 theaters (-165), 3-day: $109K (-52%), lifetime cume: $91.7M/Wk. 1,885
PREVIOUSLY, Sunday AM: IFC’s Dave Franco-directed horror movie The Rental continued to hold its lease atop the box office for a second weekend in a row, grossing $317,823 from 242 locations. Pic’s 10-day gross stands at $916,333.
The Rental reps the first No. 1 movie for the indie distrib (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, if you remember, only got up to the No. 2 spot for three weekends in a row starting in Labor Day 2002). Again, The Rental is the second new title to hold the top spot at the box office since the major chains closed down in mid-March, after Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls World Tour. Black Bear produced and financed The Rental.
The Rental continues to hold strong digitally, maintaining the No. 1 spot on iTunes’ Horror charts this week, as well as placing within the platform’s top 10 overall.
The Rental last weekend was the top film film on iTunes and at the weekend box office, making it only the second film to top both charts concurrently.
Franco’s feature directorial debut, The Rental follows two couples who rent a vacation home for what should be a celebratory weekend get-away. Pic stars Alison Brie, Dan Stevens, Jeremy Allen White, and Sheila Vand, and is written by Franco and Joe Swanberg.
As has been the norm during the pandemic, drive-ins continued to be the box office leaders, with a majority of the top 160 locations this weekend belonging to car venues. On a Comscore flash sheet, the top five locations for Friday and Saturday were the Ford Wyoming Drive-in in Dearborn, MI; the Cine-Drive in Saint Eustache, Quebec, the Stardust Drive-in in Sharon, Canada, the Sky Line drive-in in NYC, and the Wellfleet Drive-in in Wellfleet, Mass.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the big circuits begin to reopen, AMC eyeing a mid-August date and Regal Cinemas an Aug. 21 date (or whether the chain truly stick to their reopening plans with New York and California still dark from COVID-19).
Catalog titles filled the rest of this weekend’s top 5, with Warner Bros.’ Goonies making $150K across Friday-Saturday in its 1,835th weekend at 145 sites, Universal’s Jurassic Park taking No. 3 with an estimated $117K at 246 cinemas, the studio’s Back to the Future in the No. 4 spot with a two-day take of $107K at 116 locations, and Paramount’s Grease with $102K at 75 locations in weekend 2,199.
Best of Deadline
Coronavirus: Movies That Have Halted Or Delayed Production Amid Outbreak
Hong Kong Filmart Postponed Due To Coronavirus Fears; Event Moves Two Weeks Before Toronto
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
