Christine (1983 film) "Christine". Kobritz purchased the rights to "Christine" after finding himself attracted to the novel's "celebration of America's obsession with the motorcar." According to John Carpenter, "Christine" was not a film he had planned on directing, saying that he directed the film as "a job" as opposed to a "personal project." He had previously directed "The Thing" (1982), which had done poorly at the box office and led to critical backlash. In retrospect, Carpenter stated that upon reading "Christine", he felt that "It just wasn't very frightening. But it was something I needed to do at that time for my career."
Christine (1983 film) junkyard and restored by collector Bill Gibson of Pensacola, Florida. "Christine" was released in North America on December 9, 1983, to 1,045 theaters. In its opening weekend "Christine" brought in $3,408,904 landing at #4. The film dropped 39.6% in its second weekend, grossing $2,058,517 slipping from fourth to eighth place. In its third weekend, it grossed $1,851,909 dropping to #9. The film remained at #9 its fourth weekend, grossing $2,736,782. In its fifth weekend, it returned to #8, grossing $2,015,922. Bringing in $1,316,835 in its sixth weekend, the film dropped out of the box office top ten to twelfth place.