It’s a question that’s bound to show up during future pub trivia nights: name the two movies that topped the box office for at least three consecutive weeks in the first half of 2020? The first answer is easy: the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence-starring Bad Boys for Life, which remains the year’s highest-grossing movie. The other? It’s not Onward, or Sonic the Hedgehog, or any of the other wide-release titles that came out before the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a small-budget horror movie you probably haven’t heard of.
Variety reports that IFC Films’ The Wretched was the top-grossing movie at the box office over the weekend, and three weekends in a row, leading the way with $85,000 at 21 drive-in movie theaters. “The horror movie, 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.” Directed by Brett Pierce and Drew T. Pierce, The Wretched is about a rebellious teenage boy who makes a “chilling discovery” about his next-door neighbor.
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. (Via)
The totals were limited, but they are official, with The Wretched joining 2020’s other weekly box office toppers, including Swallow (one of the best movies of the year), True History of the Kelly Gang, and Phoenix, Oregon. Your move, No Time to Die.
Watch the trailer for The Wretched below. You can also rent it.
(Via Variety)
