VIRGINIA BEACH, V.a. (WAVY) — While some of us were bored during quarantine, Virginia Beach native Derrick Borte was putting the stamp of approval on one of the first new films audiences will see since the pandemic made theaters go dark.

After a three-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, movie theaters across the country are getting ready to potentially open their doors next month.

One of the first films moviegoers will head out to see is a thriller, ‘Unhinged,’ starring Oscar-award-winning actor Russell Crowe and directed by Borte.

“It’s a mile a minute thrill ride that kind of once it grabs you, you’re on the edge of your seat,” Borte said of the film. “I hear people call it a road rage thriller.”

Borte said he graduated from First Colonial High School in 1985 and went on to study at ODU. He became enamored with the silver screen at The Naro theater in Norfolk.

He moved across the country just to learn that home is where the heart is, and his heart was in the 757.

“I spent my whole life wanting to leave Virginia Beach I think growing up, and once I left enough and went enough places and saw the world, it’s a place I wanted to come back to,” he said.

He and his crew wrapped up filming in the fall of last year and put the finishing touches on the film over the last few months — virtually, of course.

“The final stamp of approval came from Virginia Beach and the film was finished a couple of days ago,” he said.

‘Unhinged’ will take moviegoers on a journey, their first in a while, all in the realm of a new normal.

“It’s exciting and nerve-racking at the same time and now based on what’s going on, there’s a whole other level of worry that you just want to know that everyone is going to be safe,” he said.

This is Borte’s 5th feature film. He’s also directed films such as The Joneses and American Dreamer, which was shot in Norfolk.

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Another fun fact about Borte is that he was a features reporter for WAVY-TV 10 in 1996.

His film ‘Unhinged’ is scheduled to be released in theaters across the country on July 10, as long as theaters reopen at that time.