#The New Mutants Scores $7m Opening Domestically

The New Mutants opened in theaters this weekend with an impressive $7 million. The comic book movie is one of the first notable releases of 2020 to actually open in theaters. It has been estimated that only 62% of North American theaters are now open, which excludes major cities like New York and Los Angeles, though more theaters are likely to open up next weekend to prepare for Christopher Nolan’s long awaited Tenet, which is currently open internationally.

The New Mutants has been suffering from harsh reviews, but that hasn’t stopped diehard Marvel fans from braving theaters to finally see the movie, which was originally supposed to hit theaters in 2018. The Josh Boone-directed movie was delayed many times over the past few years and it left many wondering if it would ever see the light of day. Things were especially more confusing when Disney acquired Fox. But, the day has come and now people can see what all of the fuss was about.

Last week’s box office winner was Russell Crowe’s Unhinged, which brought in nearly $7 million. The movie is now in second place after taking in an additional $2.6 million. Bill & Ted Face the Music took in $1.06 million for its debut weekend. These numbers are all pretty impressive to think about since only around 62% of theaters are open domestically and that the capacity is limited to only 25% to 50% in the theaters that are able to be open. There’s still a long way to go, but movie theaters across the United Stated are slowly starting to reopen after closing down in March.

Major theaters chains like AMC and Cinemark are implementing new health and a safety regulations to protect patrons and employees. Even so, there are healthcare professionals who do not think it’s the best idea to sit in a theater with a bunch of strangers, even if everyone is being socially distant. Masks are a requirement to get into theaters, but they have to be taken off to enjoy movie theater concessions like popcorn and soda, so it seems like the mask policy will be difficult to enforce.

While movie theaters are reopening, cases around the United States are still surging in some areas. Regardless, places like California are already putting new tier systems in place for counties to try and reopen again. It will be interesting to see how the new system will affect the movie theaters, while also checking out how many people are willing to go to the movies at all. From this weekend’s evidence, it looks like there are a decent amount of people who have missed the theater-going experience and will likely be back next weekend for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. CNN was one of the first outlets to report on the box office success of The New Mutants.

Topics: The New Mutants, Box Office