Dave Franco Horror Movie The Rental Tops B.O. Again; Total Theaters Open Poised To Reach 2K Next Weekend Update – Deadline

UPDATED, Monday PM with exclusive chart: IFCs horror movieThe Rentalcame 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 Francos 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 Sonys Morbius,Lionsgates 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 Citys take-it-safe approach, prevented the circuits from reopening, thus thwarting Tenets first set of backup plans. (And of course, here we are with a fingers-crossed Labor Day release planned.)

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 provinces total), Ontario (67 theaters, 36.2%), British Columbia (49 theaters, 58.3%) and Alberta (40 theaters, 52.6%). Its no wonder Tenetwill 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 states 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 currentlyare 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

2The Goonies(WB)$208K (+18%), 156 theaters (+30), lifetime cume: $67.6M/Wk 1,835

3Jurassic Park (Uni) 261 (+18) theaters, 3-day: $192K (+11%),lifetime cume: $409.4M /Wk 1,417

4Jaws (Uni) 195 theaters (+19), 3-day: $142K (+33%)/lifetime cume: $266.3M/Wk 2,355

5Grease(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

7Jungle 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

9Gremlins(WB), 58 theaters (-1) 3-day: $109,3K (-8%),lifetime cume: $155M/Wk 1,887

10The Karate Kid(Sony) 202 theaters (-165), 3-day: $109K (-52%), lifetime cume: $91.7M/Wk. 1,885

PREVIOUSLY, Sunday AM: IFCs Dave Franco-directed horror movie The Rentalcontinued to hold its lease atop the box office for a second weekend in a row, grossing $317,823 from 242 locations. Pics 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 Animations 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 platforms 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.

Francos feature directorial debut,The Rentalfollows 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 weekends top 5, with Warner Bros. Gooniesmaking $150K across Friday-Saturday in its 1,835th weekend at 145 sites, Universals Jurassic Parktaking No. 3 with an estimated $117K at 246 cinemas, the studios Back to the Futurein the No. 4 spot with a two-day take of $107K at 116 locations, and Paramounts Greasewith $102K at 75 locations in weekend 2,199.

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Dave Franco Horror Movie The Rental Tops B.O. Again; Total Theaters Open Poised To Reach 2K Next Weekend Update - Deadline

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero