The final numbers for the box office aren’t in yet, but as many would have guessed, movie theaters took a massive hit in sales this weekend.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread throughout the world, theaters are shutting down in major cities such as New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, and more. Even in cities that aren’t shutting down, theater chains are cutting seating capacity by 50% to increase social distancing in seating.
Currently, it looks as though the total for this weekend will be $54.4M, dropping to a level not seen since the weekend of Sept. 15, 2000. If the numbers are any lower, than we’re looking at a comparison of the weekend of Jan. 15, 1999 which was just $54M.
From here on out, the entire movie schedule has been pretty much shifted back. The next major film at this point will be Black Widow on May 1, but that seems certain to change.
This will be the new normal for the next month or so when it comes to ticket sales. Expect to see the number of open theaters drop even further.
IMAGE SOURCE: Shutterstock – Movie Theater – Syda Productions
