'The New Mutants' brings in $7 million from theaters during its opening weekend

"The New Mutants," the latest comic book movie from Marvel and 20th Century Studios, brought in an estimated $7 million in the United States during its opening this weekend.

The film, which tells the story of young people discovering their powerful mutant abilities, is one of the first notable movies to open following the coronavirus outbreak. It opened in the middle of a pandemic as theater chains slowly reopen their doors.

AMC, the world's largest movie theater chain, and other major theater companies are opening with new health measures, such as capping seating capacity. But theaters aren't open everywhere -- only 62% of the domestic market is open, according to Disney.

So it's difficult to gauge the film's success. It's something of a miracle "New Mutants" opened at all.

The film, which is a spin-off of the "X-Men" franchise (and isn't a part of Disney's lucrative Marvel Cinematic Universe), has had a long, strange trip to the big screen.

"The New Mutants," which actually completed production in 2017, has been delayed multiple times.

It was originally scheduled for an April 2018 release but was postponed to February 2019 before being pushed to August of last year. Disney delayed the film yet again to April of 2020 after it acquired its studio, 20th Century Fox. Then coronavirus happened.

Although films like "New Mutants" are the first to return, the real test for theaters could come next weekend as "Tenet" hits theaters in the United States.

Christopher Nolan's twisty thriller, which was originally supposed to debut in July, is one of the most anticipated films of 2020 and could give a better idea of the viability of theaters going forward. The film is produced by Warner Bros., which is owned by CNN parent company WarnerMedia.