North American Box Office Loses 706 Locations In a Week | THR News - video Dailymotion

Amid an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases, 646 theaters closed late last week in the U.S. along with 60 locations in Canada.

Transcript

00:00Moviegoing is faltering as more theaters in the U.S. shut down virtually overnight amid

00:04an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases.

00:08Over the November 20th, through the 22nd weekend alone, Blumhouse & Universal's body swap

00:13reboot, Freaky, came in at number one with $1.2 million in its second outing.

00:19The showing was by far one of the lowest chart-topping grosses of all time, especially for the weekend

00:24before Thanksgiving, which is usually one of the most lucrative weekends of the year

00:28for moviegoing.

00:29Usually, the film is to blame, but not in this case.

00:32Heading into the weekend, there were 646 movie theater closures in the U.S.

00:36In addition to that, there were also 60 cinema reclosures in Canada, meaning that in the span

00:41of several days, the North American box office lost 706 locations compared to a week ago,

00:46and the effects on the box office were telling.

00:49Domestic revenue for the film came in at anywhere from $4 million to $5 million, down as much

00:54as 50% from the previous frame, and the lowest since the box office recovery began in late

00:58August with the release of Unhinged and then Tenet.

01:01The latest round of closure seemed to be the most dramatic to date, and no one is exactly

01:06sure how many more closures are yet to come amid the surge.

01:09Last week, in a preemptive move, Warner Bros. announced that Wonder Woman 1984 will debut

01:13on Christmas Day in whatever North American cinemas remain open, as well as on HBO Max.

01:19Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore says theaters need new high-profile films to drive audiences

01:24to the multiplex, but unfortunately those are in short supply in the coming weeks.

01:29The exceptions to that is, of course, Universal's animated sequel The Croods A New Age, which

01:34debuts Wednesday in advance of Thanksgiving weekend, and Paul Greengrass' Christmas Day

01:38release News of the World, starring Tom Hanks.

01:41The studio has stayed in the theatrical release game in a landmark deal with top exhibitors, allowing

01:46the studio to make its films available early on premium Video On Demand.

01:51As for when things can reach a turning point, analysts are banking on a vaccine to reverse

01:55the crisis and result in a renaissance in terms of the big screen.

01:59Dergarabedian says movie theaters over the decades have proven to be extraordinarily resilient

02:04and have survived every challenge from the pandemic of 1918, through the Great Depression,

02:10to the introduction of TV, through the home theater revolution, and now the streaming boom.

02:15For more details to this story, head to THR.com.

02:17For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.