EXCLUSIVE: The New York DMA exploded last night at the box office with NYC theaters returning after a 50 1/2 week pandemic closure with an estimated gross of $307K, +614% from last Friday according to B.O. sources. I’m also told that the NY DMA was easily the No. 1 market in the country last night, followed by Salt Lake City, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, Houston, Denver, Minneapolis, Detroit and Montreal.
The New York DMA includes movie theaters in Connecticut, New Jersey, Westchester County, Long Island, and also the five boroughs. Last Friday, the DMA only grossed $43K from 60 locations. Last night’s $307K clearly comes from the additional NYC openings. All movie theaters in NYC are operating at 25% capacity restrictions.
AMC Boss Adam Aron went on CNBC yesterday to celebrate the reopening of NYC theaters, says 13 of the chain’s locations in NYC were reopening, for a total of 29 in the Empire state. AMC Empire 25 on 42nd Street and its Lincoln Square venue have consistently ranked in pre-pandemic times as the top grossing cinemas at the domestic box office. Overall, 90% of the No. 1 chain’s movie theaters are open coast to coast.
New York was the top market for new wide titles Lionsgate’s Chaos Walking and Focus Features’ Boogie. The market I’m told also did well for Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, although Salt Lake City was very strong for that animated title.