Fresh product continued to rule in a distressed exhibition marketplace as RLJE Films’ Tax Collector grossed an estimated $317K at 129 theaters. Tax Collector is the third new title after Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls World Tour and IFC’s The Rental to top the box office since the pandemic began in mid-March.
We’ll know for certain which film is No. 1 tomorrow, but it’s looking like Tax Collector can claim that bounty. Disney had 20th Century Studios’ Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back on the charts at 260 sites, and its Friday-Saturday haul of $174K indicates it’s headed for a No. 2 ranking in the $225K-$240K range. Episode V‘s estimated lifetime cume is $292.1M.
The David Ayer directed action thriller follows David (Bobby Soto) and Creeper (Shia LaBeouf) who are “tax collectors” for the crime lord Wizard, collecting his cut from the profits of local gangs’ illicit dealings. But when Wizard’s old rival returns to Los Angeles from Mexico, the business is upended, and David finds himself desperate to protect what matters more to him than anything else: his family.
Word began to spread yesterday that Tax Collector was doing quite well, clocking $115K for the day. The film played at a mix of the nation’s top drive-ins and key indoor venues. At the Vineland Drive-In just outside Los Angeles, The Tax Collector charted both the highest Saturday and second-highest Friday single-day grosses since their reopening. Vineland did so well, they added a second screening last night. Also doing well with Tax Collector were the Paramount drive-in and Mission Tikki drive-ins in the Southern California area. Dallas also had a decent drive-in run at the Coyote as well as from hardtops in Houston at the IPIC and San Antonio at the Santikos theaters.
Also, I hear Tax Collector did stellar VOD/digital numbers clearing $1M for the weekend, and ranking No. 1 on iTunes.
In third place is Universal’s 1993 Jurassic Park with roughly $138K from 235 locations. Through weekend 1,418, the pic’s running lifetime cume is $407.7M.
Fourth belongs to IFC’s third weekend of Dave Franco’s The Rental which cleared a running total of $1.178M from a 3-day of $123,7K. This raises IFC’s cumulative box office during the pandemic from its new titles to $4M+. IFC also had the James D’Arcy directed Liam Neeson comedy Made in Italy which made $34,4K at 111 sites, and ranked among the top 2 pics on iTunes taking the No. 1 spot on the comedy, drama, and romance charts. Rental maintained the top spot on the horror chart.
The no. 5 movie was Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out with approximately $120K at 100 sites. Pic’s lifetime is around $356.9M.
Also opening this weekend was Train to Busan Presents Peninsula in Canada with 47 runs and a Friday-Saturday take of $83K (weekend will likely land in the low $100K). While that take isn’t nearly as good as the pic’s play in South Korea where it’s made well over $27M, the Cineplex theaters showed signs of life in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmunton Canada.
Again, the major circuits by and large aren’t open yet (Cinemark has sites open in the Dallas area), with AMC, Regal, and Cinemark making a go next weekend.