This Film Just Topped the Box Office. It Didn't Take Much

Western thriller with Kevin Costner, Diane Lane had a $4.1M weekend, a new COVID reality
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 9, 2020 8:17 AM CST
This Film Just Topped the Box Office. It Didn't Take Much
In this image, Diane Lane, left, and Kevin Costner appear in a scene from "Let Him Go."   (Kimberley French/Focus Features via AP)

The Kevin Costner and Diane Lane film Let Him Go had the highest-earning box office weekend of any film in over a month, and it didn't even have to break $5 million to earn the distinction. Focus Features on Sunday estimated that the Western thriller made $4.1 million in ticket sales from 2,454 locations. It's the most any film has earned in a single weekend in six weeks, per the AP. Modest returns, and milestones, are part of the new reality of the beleaguered movie business in the COVID-era. Let Him Go, from director Thomas Bezucha, is based on a Larry Watson novel in which a Montana couple travel to North Dakota to retrieve their 3-year-old grandson from his stepfather's family.

The movie has received favorable reviews from critics, and something about Let Him Go clicked with audiences who haven't been going back to theaters in pre-pandemic numbers, even as more open across the US. According to Comscore, approximately 48% of all North American theaters are currently open. Lisa Bunnell, Focus Features' president of distribution, said they were "excited to see audiences coming back to theaters." The company also had the No. 2 movie of the weekend, Come Play. The release schedule is also without a normal slate of big studio releases. At one point the Marvel film Black Widow was supposed to come out on Nov. 6, but it has since been delayed again to May 2021.

(More Kevin Costner stories.)

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