Every single year, tornadoes rip through central portions of the United States, killing good people and destroying a ton of buildings. The individual locations are always random, but the overall picture is not. In theory, you would think those affected wouldn’t turn to tornadoes for entertainment, but in the past, they have. And that could wind up being Into The Storm’s ace in the hole.
Back in 1996, Twister did really big business in tornado alley. In fact, in almost the entire region, it over-performed based on both expectations and relative to the rest of the country, as per The Hollywood Reporter. That could be good news for Into The Storm, as it’s really the first major release to primarily focus on the weather phenomenon since Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt made more than their share of money at the box office.
For those who don’t live in it or near it, Tornado Alley is an area running North to South across the Heartland of the United States. It starts in Texas and extends straight up to the Dakotas…
There are likely some people in the region who avoid tornado-related movies because they hit too close to home, but that squeamishness is likely counterbalanced by basic familiarity. Tornadoes are not a nation-wide phenomenon. In fact, the majority of people living in the United States have never experienced the horror of a tornado. Watching it on film might be fun in a fish out of water sort of way, but it’s hard to really relate unless you’ve actually moved away from windows and sought shelter.
Unfortunately for Into The Storm, the film’s reviews aren’t exactly spectacular. So, even if Tornado Alley over-performs, if it’s numbers aren’t very big anywhere else, that won’t really matter. With a $50 million budget, it’s going to need to put quite a few people in their seats for a few weeks to even break even.
We’ll keep you updated on the box office figures once they start to become available.
