Virginia Beach native and film director gets ready for opening night of ‘Unhinged’ as movie theaters reopen

VIRGINIA BEACH, V.a. (WAVY) — Major theater chains AMC and Regal are planning to open their doors across the country and here in Hampton Roads this week.

For the last five months, the lights have been off because of the coronavirus pandemic. The first major film on the marquee was directed by one of Hampton Roads’ very own.

WAVY spoke with Virginia Beach native, Derrick Borte back in June about his film “Unhinged,” starring Russell Crowe.

The film was supposed to be released when theaters were slated to reopen last month, but in true 2020 fashion, the re-opening was postponed. The waiting game is over and the film is set to be released Friday the 21, according to Solstice, the film distribution company.

“It’s such a weird thing, you know to kind of open a film under such weird conditions, you know? But, it’s cool to have the first film to open,” Borte said. “The first wide release to open. I don’t even know where I’m going to go. I may just like play secret shopper and may pop around so I may go to a couple of the theaters.”

A spokesperson for Solstice said ‘Unhinhged’ is the number one film in the U.K and Australia, among other countries.

“It’s gotten such an amazing response that it kind of takes some of the tension away from you know, how this weekend will go,” he said.

Borte said not only is he excited for moviegoers in the U.S. to see the film, he finds comfort in the fact that he believes they’ll be protected.

“Every protocol theaters are putting in place to kind of ensure people’s safety is really reassuring to know that people aren’t risking their health to get out and see a movie, but at the same time, it’s nice to know they’ll be able to do that,” he said.

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