LOS ANGELES: Russell Crowe's upcoming thriller movie "Unhinged" will be the first movie to be released in American theatres since they were shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Deadline, Solstice Studios have decided to bring forward the movie's release date to July 1.
It was earlier scheduled to come out on September 4. In the US, some of the states have started to lift restrictions on business activities, including the operating of cinema houses.
The studio said the decision to advance the film's release was made after extensive consultation with the National Association of Theatres and leading theatre chains.
"If there are places where density is a factor and theatres aren't open, that's okay. It might be that theatres are closed in New York City or Chicago or San Francisco, but less populated cities and suburbs will be open and we expect there to be a lot of pent-up demand," Solstice's president and CEO Mark Gill said.
He said by shifting the release date of "Unhinged" to July, they have avoided a clash with Paramount's "A Quiet Place 2", which was among the projects to be delayed by the pandemic.
"We would get killed if we stayed there. The whole idea is not to be somewhere where you can get run over by a super tanker," Gill added.
Directed by Derrick Borte, "Unhinged" is a story about a single mother who is stalked and tormented by a stranger following a road rage confrontation at a red light.
Besides Crowe, the movie also features Jimmi Simpson, Gabriel Bateman and Caren Pistorius.
Among the titles that are expected to be released in July are Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" and Disney's "Mulan".