Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld and cinema chain Odeon have reported that in the UK, the movie buffs have rushed back to theatres as the cinemas reopened on 17 May after the pandemic induced lockdowns.
Cineworld experienced recovery with the strong box office performance of Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway. The film managed to collect $6.4 million including a remarkable collection of $2.5 million on Saturday.
Cineworld spokesperson said, “More people than expected returned as lockdown eased and we now anticipate a good recovery in attendance over the coming months.”
According to Wikipedia, the movie has collected $30.2 million so far. It was released in Australia on 25 March where it earned a total of $9.2 million and it hit the UK theatres on 17 May. The US audience will get to witness the rabbit on 18 June.
The animated feature is directed and co-produced by Will Gluck and written by Patrick Burleigh and Gluck. The film is a sequel to 2018’s Peter Rabbit produced by Sony Pictures Animation.
The story features Thomas and Bea who are now married and living with Peter and his rabbit family. Bored of life in the garden, Peter goes to the big city, where he meets shady characters and ends up creating chaos for the whole family.
Talking about the numbers, the UK box office receipts totaled $1.6 billion in 2018, down fractionally from the 1.56 billion recorded in 2017. However, the country remained the largest movie-going nation in Europe. The UK-owned chain has seen huge losses due to closures during the pandemic.
With the opening of cinema halls, Odeon sold more than 300,000 tickets over the week commencing from 17 May making it the chain’s busiest week in over a year, and more than double the attendance of any weekend during the July-November period in 2020, when UK cinemas reopened during a lull in the pandemic.
Cineworld group CEO Mooky Greidinger said, “We are thrilled to have our cinemas back in business in the US and UK and to welcome movie fans back to the big screen for an exciting and full slate of films,”
He further added, “With the releases next week of Cruella and A Quiet Place 2, we expect next weekend’s results to be strong.”