"Ticket sales in North America hit their lowest levels in more than two decades, generating roughly $55.3 million between Friday and Sunday.
Box office numbers have not been this low since the Sept. 15 to 17 weekend in 2000, when movie theaters brought in $54.5 million from holdovers including Keanu Reeves’ psychological thriller “The Watcher,” “Bait” with Jamie Foxx and cheerleading classic “Bring It On.”
Receipts dropped 45% from last weekend while only one movie, Disney-Pixar’s “
Onward,” made more than $10 million over the three-day stretch. The steep decline pushed the year-to-date box office down almost 9%, according to Comscore.
Domestic revenues were inevitably going to plummet this weekend because AMC and Regal, two of the biggest movie theater chains, and several other circuits like Alamo Drafthouse and Arclight, cut capacity in individual auditoriums by 50% to avoid crowding in wake of the pandemic. Reducing the amount of tickets sold per theater helped multiplexes comply with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for “social distancing.” Theaters also kept room between rows and seats to ensure patrons had ample space.
In all, low ticket sales were a combination of audiences staying home and theaters capping seating capacity."
