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BO Report: ‘Unhinged’ maintains the rage as ‘Black Water: Abyss’ surfaces

‘Black Water: Abyss.’

Studiocanal’s road rage thriller Unhinged was the top choice again for cinemagoers in its second weekend while R&R Films’ Black Water: Abyss, director Andrew Traucki’s sequel to his 2007 cult-horror Black Water, opened on limited screens in Oz and the US.

Starved of new, wide releases, the market had to rely on holdovers as well as two French specialty films, Palace’s We’ll End Up Together and Umbrella Entertainment’s Deerskin.

The top 20 titles generated $2.1 million, 4 per cent up on the previous frame, according to Numero.

Directed by Derrick Borte and starring Russell Crowe and Caren Pistorius, Unhinged rang up $701,000 on 193 screens, easing by a mere 12 per cent, upping the total to $1.7 million.

In second spot, Roadshow’s The Secret: Dare to Dream actually lifted its takings by 15 per cent to $259,000 in its second frame on 212. Director Andy Tennant’s adaptation of Rhonda Byrne’s self-help book starring Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas has collected $562,000.

Majestic Cinemas’ Kieren Dell tells IF that both titles are getting good word-of-mouth amid an encouraging uptick in ticket sales, observing: “We had a few sell-out screenings, taking into account COVID-19 capacity restrictions, which is a good sign that people are starting to return, in particular families and the older audience.”

Wallis Cinema’s programming manager David Simpson said: “It was encouraging to see another fair weekend for The Secret, which is providing the comfort, and Unhinged the discomfort. There are positive signs with Tenet launching on August 27.”

Universal’s The King of Staten Island reached $1.07 million after adding $112,000 in its fourth outing while Rialto’s Korean animated fantasy Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs drew $83,000 in its sixth, scoring $1.26 million.

Guillaume Canet’s We’ll End Up Together, the sequel to his 2010 hit Little White Lies, fetched $42,000 on 14 screens and $115,000 including Alliance Francaise French Film Festival screenings.

The comedy-drama featuring François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Gilles Lellouche, Benoît Magimel, Laurent Lafitte and Valérie Bonneton follows a group of friends who gather at a summer house in the chic beach community of Cap Ferret.

The Palace release had the best opening in several weeks at the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, whose GM Alex Temesvari says: “We are looking at another two weeks of relatively quite trading before Tenet manages to drive large audiences back to our venue.”

Quentin Dupieux’s Deerskin, which stars Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist) as a goofball whose obsession with his designer jacket causes him to blow his life savings and turn to crime, stole $16,000 on 18 screens including previews.

Traucki’s Queensland-shot survival thriller Black Water: Abyss took $8,000 on 15 screens including sneaks.

Dell rates the turnout for the film starring Jessica McNamee, Luke Mitchell, Amali Golden, Benjamin Hoetjes and Anthony J. Sharpe, playing at six of his eight locations, as a pleasant surprise.

Noting it was the second highest earner behind Unhinged in Port Macquarie, he said: “We had lots of feedback from people who said they really enjoyed it.”

Exhibitors booked the film knowing there is a shorter than normal window before the September 23 DVD release.

In the US, distributor Screen Media launched the thriller written by John Ridley and Sarah Smith on 28 screens including drive-ins and on digital platforms. No figures were immediately available.

Neal Kingston, who produced with Michael Robertson and Pam Collis, tells IF that in the current environment he is very happy with the sales to 30-plus territories negotiated by Altitude Film Sales.