Horror Movie ‘The Wretched’ Leads Small North American Box Office as Drive-Ins Resurge
By Dave McNary
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – With North American moviegoing slowly coming back to life, IFC’s horror movie “The Wretched” is leading the weekend with $85,000 at 21 drive-in movie theaters.
“The Wretched,” written and directed by Brett Pierce and Drew T. Pierce, follows a young boy who discovers an evil witch in the nearby woods. The cast include John-Paul Howard, Piper Curda, Zarah Mahler, Azie Tesfai and Jamison Jones.
The horror, which premiered at the 2019 Fantasia International Film Festival, has scared up a total of $296,954 since launching on May 1 at 11 drive-ins, including the Mission Tiki in Montclair, Calif., where it had an informal premiere . Friday night’s showing at the Mission Tiki was sold out.
IFC also reported its Beanie Feldstein comedy “How to Build a Girl” took in $36,000 at nine drive-in locations and had a 10-day total of $55,802. The film is an adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s 2014 semi-autobiographical novel about an awkward teen who becomes a music critic.
Sunday’s box office totals were limited as IFC was the only distributor reporting. Drive-in movie theaters have quickly grown in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic with about 150 of the nation’s 306 locations now open, according to Comscore. About 50 brick-and-mortar theaters are now open in states where governments are easing social-distancing rules, including Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas.
Solstice Studios announced recently it will open Russell Crowe thriller “Unhinged” on July 1 with plans to launch on a nationwide basis. 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 other major releases set to launch until July 17 when Warner Bros. is currently scheduled to open Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet.” However, with shelter-in-place guidelines possibly still effective, it’s unclear whether “Tenet” will be able to maintain that date.
