Three million seems to be the number to look out for when it comes to topping the American box office during the global coronavirus pandemic. Over the weekend, horror-comedy Freaky topped the nation’s box office by earning just a little over $3 million.
Variety reports that the Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn-led Freaky was the top movie at the box office over the weekend with a take of $3.7 million. In the movie, Newton plays a high school student who swaps bodies with a serial killer played by Vince Vaughn.
The movie is directed by Christopher Landon, who has previously directed Happy Death Day and written Disturbia and a few Paranormal Activity sequels. The Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions collaboration also only cost $6 million to produce, which means it might turn a profit over the coming weeks.
Universal’s president of domestic distribution, Jim Orr, expressed his confidence that the movie would have a long life in the theaters, especially since most big-budget releases have been moved to 2021 or even late due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
Freaky’s $3.7 million take is also within the range of most number one movies in the past few weeks. Last week’s top film, the Kevin Costner and Diane Lane thriller Let Him Go, pulled in $4.1 million.
Come Play, the top movie before Let Him Go, made $3.15 million on its first weekend. Honest Thief topped the box office on its first weekend with $3.7 million, while the $3.36 million that The War With Grandpa made on its first weekend was enough to make it the number one movie during that week.
Deadline notes that all three films are still in the top five of the American box office. Let Him Go is in second place, while The War With Grandpa, Come Play, and Honest Thief take third, fourth, and fifth place, respectively.
Last week, Let Him Go earned $1.8 million, bringing its total earnings to $6.9 million. The War With Grandpa has now earned a total of $15 million after making $1.3 million over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Come Play has already made $7.3 million in its third week after earning $1.1 million over the weekend. Honest Thief made $800,000 last week, bringing its six-week total to $12.4 million.
Whether $3 million will become all it takes to top the American box office will hinge on how well American handled the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. According to the Nov. 15 update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are now 10,846,373 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country. The number of people that have died from COVID-19 is now at 244,810.