Horror Film The Wretched Is Ruling the Box Office With Just 75 Screens in Middle of a Pandemic
If the movie continues to top the box office until the next weekend, then it will join the club of just 15 movies that have maintained the top spot for 6 weeks at the box office. With no new movie in the sight for this week, it seems doable.
The COVID-19 pandemic paused many businesses, including theatres. It has been months since a film released in theatres. All hopes are on Christopher Nolan's Tenet to revive the business. In the past few weeks, big-budget potboilers like Black Widow and Fast and Furious 9 have been pushed from their intended releases. But the lack of films has not exactly turned out to be a dry spell at the US box office. At least, not for one horror film titled, The Wretched. COVID-19 Pandemic Set to Change Future of Theatres, Malls, Social Distancing While Shopping And Visiting Cinema Halls to Become 'New Normal'.
IFC's The Wretched has turned out to be a box-office winner in the US during the pandemic. For the past five weeks, as per reports, the film has been on top of the chart. Only films like Titanic, The Sixth Sense, Avatar, and Black Panther have been on top of the box-office chart for five consecutive weeks. So, how did a small-budgeted movie achieve the feat while the theatres are shut?
The answer to that question is drive through theatres. Such theatres can run without much fuss about social distancing. Moviegoers continued to watch movies at screenings at such drive-ins across the states.
As per a report by Forbes, the film grossed $181,000 at the box officer over the last weekend while running across 75 screens. The movie opened in a handful of screens on May 1. The makers are ecstatic. Multiplex And Single-Screen Owners Request Government To Reopen Theatres By June 30, Association Guarantees To Follow Safety Measures In Theatres Across India.
"We pivoted the marketing in cool retro drive-in ads. That was a fun way to get the word out," Arianna Bocco, the executive VP of acquisitions and production at IFC Films, told Variety. "A lot of it has been through organic word of mouth because it affects the people who live there."
Watch The Trailer of The Wretched Here:
If the movie continues to top the box office until the next weekend, then it will join the club of just 15 movies that have maintained the top spot for 6 weeks at the box office. With no new movie in the sight for this week, it seems doable.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 04, 2020 08:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).