ST. CHARLES – “Munger Road” brought in about $38,000 with about 3,800 attendees over the weekend in its only theater, St. Charles’ Charlestowne Cinema 18.
“We’re extremely happy,” said theater general manager Randy Pollock. “September and October are usually pretty slow so this was a nice surprise. Christmas came early.”
“Munger Road,” was directed by St. Charles native Nicholas Smith, and shot in St. Charles, Bartlett and the surrounding suburbs. The theater came in at No. 1 in the Chicagoland area in the per screen average – the highest number of attendees attending one film on average compared to the weekend’s overall attendance. Pollock expects to see crowds continue to stream in as the annual Scarecrow Festival opens this weekend in St. Charles.
He said he was also surprised at the age range “Munger Road” brought in.
“The last movie that had this old of an audience for a horror film was probably ‘The Exorcist’,” he said.
Nearly every screening throughout the weekend was sold out or very close to a sell out -- many times well in advance.
“For a release at the end of September, and a horror film, this just doesn’t happen anywhere,” he said, recalling on his more than 30 years in the movie theater business. “And everybody was saying, ‘Wow, that was really good.’ "
The movie is still at the St. Charles theater and will open Friday in Barrington, Elgin, Schaumburg, Rosemont, Lombard, Batavia, Warrenville and Deer Park.
More information
For more information, including an updated list of theaters and more about the movie, visit www.mungerroad.com.