The United Kingdom and Ireland are making their way back to the state of normality bit by bit. Theatres have begun catching up the ‘good old’ climate - making it a relieving moment for film contributors. Streaming platforms have been crowded with movies of different natures, but the theatre-stans were not quite joyous about it.

All that was missing was films in theatres that come out as a blockbuster like one of those pre-COVID-19 stories. Apparently, the wait is eventually over as the road-rage thriller Unhinged starring Russell Crowe gives a strong statement at the box office, especially in U.K. and Ireland.

The film has been released by Altitude Film Distribution and has racked up more than $225000 (£170,000) over the weekend in U.K. and Ireland. The film is playing at 243 locations under the guidelines of social distancing imposed by the government to slow down the spread of the virus. Although the cases have been on a rise, the government plans to unlock the territory as quickly as possible.

It is due to their efforts to unlock that the U.K. and Ireland are two of the few places in the world to reopen the theatres at this point of time where the fears of the second virus wave lurk right beneath.

Unhinged is the first movie to reach such huge numbers since the pandemic hit the entire world. Other movies to release recently in the middle of the virus-rage are the Disney’s family/animation Onward, the Australian animation from Vertigo, 100% Wolf, the supernatural film The Vigil, and Picturehouse Entertainment’s astronaut drama Proxima.

Albeit some of the films mentioned above had big names associated with them backed by interesting plots, the films couldn’t impress with box office numbers. Obviously, plummeted footfall for the films can be attributed to the impact of Coronavirus.

The highest among them was Onward's total collection that fell around $110 million against a huge budget of around $200 million, a humongous loss.  In contrast to movies failing at box office, Unhinged became the first movie to surpass $100,000 in the British territory since the unlocking began.

During the situation fraught with hardships and uncertainty, Unhinged is the ray of hope for filmmakers, producers, and everybody who is somehow connected to the world of cinema.

Experts have suggested that moviegoers are increasingly getting used to watching movies in theatres with Coronavirus measures in place such as the compulsion of mask and distance-keeping requirements.

Unhinged’s box office numbers indicate that the movie may further it’s popularity among audiences and may even become a trailblazer.