Boxoffice Insider: Bert Kreischer Leads The Pack In Drive-In Reports

Comedian Bert Kreischer did his part to fill in the void with his recent “Hot Summer Nights” drive-in tour that drew capacity crowds to drive-in theaters in North Carolina, Indiana, Oklahoma and Colorado. Sales were robust for six shows booked at four theaters, yielding a box office take of $413,957 with overall attendance reaching 7,857. Ticket pricing was set for each vehicle based on the number of people attending – $110 for a car with two people, $160 for three and $210 for a maximum of five attendees. (Note: on the Live Boxoffice chart, ticket prices are calculated per person rather than per vehicle.)

Kreischer kicked off the tour with a single performance at Hound’s Drive-In in Kings Mountain, N.C. near Charlotte on June 24. The show earned $75,231 with tickets sold for 578 vehicles and a total headcount of 1,516, yet the highest attendance count for a single show was logged at the third venue on the schedule. Admiral Twin Drive-In in Tulsa, Okla., welcomed a crowd of 1,693 fans in 637 vehicles on June 28, grossing $81,256.

On June 26, the second date on the tour, Kreischer saw his best box office results with two performances offered at Tibbs Drive-In in Indianapolis. The venue’s attendance tally totaled 2,842 – 1,602 people in 607 vehicles at the first show, while the late show saw tickets sold for 456 vehicles and a headcount of 1,240. With revenue from both shows totaling $143,401, the engagement racked up the highest gross that has been reported to Pollstar since the industry shutdown four months ago.

For the finale, Holiday Twin Drive-In in Fort Collins, Colo., hosted the comic for two shows on July 1. Attendance for both performances reached 1,806 – 937 attendees for the early show and 869 more at the late show, while revenue from both totaled $114,069.

Kreischer kicked off the summer tour on the heels of his most recent televised special, “Hey Big Boy” that was introduced in March. It was his second original comedy special on Netflix, following “Secret Time” that debuted in 2018. He’s just announced nine more drive-in dates run on the Hot Summer Nights tour, in markets including Wichita, Memphis, Philadelphia and more kicking off in early August. 

Elsewhere at the drive-in, Christian music’s TobyMac headed out during June and July with his own drive-in theater tour, playing 12 dates in U.S. cities. He lands on the Live Boxoffice chart with seven of them. The most successful stop based on box office numbers came on the second-to-last night (July 11) at the 66 Drive-In located in Carthage, Mo. The sold-out performance drew a total of 2,080 fans with tickets sold for 400 vehicles, the best sold ticket count on the trek. The show also had the highest gross recorded for the artist with earnings totaling $55,700.

The ticket range for all of the drive-in theater dates varied with the lowest prices valued from $40 to $100, depending on the market, yet all 12 shows featured a top ticket price of $175. 

Overall, the 12 performances grossed $465,496 from tickets sold for 3,547 vehicles. The total attendance on the tour was 18,068.

TobyMac, who typically plays arenas on the road, took his “Hits Deep” tour to 22 North American cities earlier this year, moving 148,187 tickets at 23 shows for a $5.4 million haul. That winter arena trek as well as this summer’s drive-in jaunt were both promoted by Awakening Events.