'Freaky' Has Slow Opening Weekend
by EG
The horror movie spoof Freaky opened in theaters this weekend, and it didn't sell a ton of tickets. In a market where less than half of American movie theaters are open for business, the movie still managed to fail to live up to expectations for its debut. The weekend raises questions about whether movie theaters can continue to operate as the COVID pandemic continues to grow out of control. Read on for details.
Blumhouse and Universal's Freaky — a twisted take on the classic body-swap pic Freaky Friday — topped the struggling North American box office with a $3.7 million weekend debut.
The movie came in on the lower end of expectations amid a surge in COVID-19 cases across the country, resulting in theater reclosures in markets including San Diego and Sacramento, and warnings from health authorities in a number of states urging consumers to stay home. Cinemas are also beginning to shut again in Oregon and parts of New York's Westchester County, as well as in Canada's Ontario province (including many locations in the Toronto area).
"I think a combination of factors continues to make this a very challenging marketplace for theatrical releases and, as I’ve been saying all along, the fact that new movies have at least been drawing audiences (albeit in understandably small numbers) to theaters shows that there is still a desire for many consumers to get outside of the house for some sort of 'normal' activity," says Comscore's Paul Dergarabedian.
Overall, 47.7 percent of theaters in the U.S. are up and running, compared to more than 50 percent last month.
Freaky is the 14th Blumhouse film to place No. 1 in its opening. Directed by Happy Death Day’s Christopher Landon, the R-rate film stars an innocent teenage girl (Kathryn Newton) who finds she has switched bodies with a serial killer (Vince Vaughn).
Overseas, where cinemas have reclosed in a number of major European markets, Freaky grossed $1.9 million from 20 markets for a global start of $5.6 million.
Most major Hollywood studios are sitting out the fall season out because of the pandemic. The Universal stable, including Focus Features, is a major exception, in part because of a new early PVOD deal it has struck with AMC Theatres (Freaky hits PVOD on Dec. 3).
Over the weekend, Universal and Focus claimed three of the top five spots on the box office chart. Focus' Let Him Go placed No. 2 in its second weekend with $1.8 million for a domestic total of $6.9 million, while fellow Focus title Come Play came in No. 4 in its third weekend with $1.1 million for a total of $7.3 million.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Are you ready to go back to the movie theater? Let us know in the comments below.