Russell Crowe’s ‘Unhinged’ off to decent start as U.S. theaters slowly reopen

Actor Russell Crowe speaks at the 30th annual American Cinematheque Award ceremony in Beverly Hills, California U.S., October 14, 2016. (REUTERS)

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.