Paramount and Temple Hill are grinning extensively.
Their new film, Smile 2, received the home field workplace race with an estimated $23 million from 3,619 theaters, together with Imax and different premium large-format screens. That might put the movie’s debut simply forward of the primary Smile, a sleeper hit that opened to $22.6 million in late September 2022 on its solution to grossing greater than $217 million worldwide in opposition to a $17 million price range.
Abroad, it likewise took in $23 million.
As soon as once more written and directed by Parker Finn, the movie follows a malevolent spirit that jumps hosts by way of a diabolical grin, this time infecting a troubled pop star (Naomi Scott) with a ton of trauma to feed on, in accordance with The Hollywood Reporter‘s overview of the movie. Scott stars reverse Lukas Gage, Rosemarie DeWitt and Miles Gutierrez-Riley. This time, the price range was $28 million, which remains to be a modest sum for a serious studio movie.
Smile 2 earned a B CinemaScore from audiences, in comparison with a B- for the primary movie. It’s having to fend off competitors from holdover slasher pic Terrifier 3, which opened to $18.9 million final weekend regardless of being unrated and doing zero TV advertisements.
Terrifier 3, from Cineverse, got here in third with simply north of $9 million from 2,762 cinemas, a stable maintain and placing its home complete at roughly $36 million in opposition to a $2 million manufacturing price range.
Some are speculating that DreamWorks/Common’s The Wild Robotic is benefiting from Terrifier 3 since theaters received’t let anybody who’s beneath 17 see the latter in the event that they aren’t accompanied by an grownup. (Exhibitors are treating it like an R-rated film.) Rival studios suspect teenagers are shopping for ticket to see Wild Robotic after which sneaking into Terrifier 3 (the identical may be true for Smile 2, which is rated R).
Regardless of the case, Wild Robotic — which is offered within the residence by way of premium VOD — has bragging rights to holding at second place in its fourth weekend because it crossed the $100 million mark domestically after incomes one other $10 million from 3,829 cinemas for a home tally of $101.7 million via Sunday and $196 million globally.
John Crowley’s romantic drama We Reside in Time made information in climbing up the chart to fifth place because it efficiently platformed into 985 theaters after opening in solely a handful of cities final weekend. The Andrew Garfield-Florence Pugh earned $4.2 million from 985 areas. A24 will develop We Reside in Time in all places subsequent weekend.
The massive headline on the awards field workplace was Sean Baker’s Anora, which is opening in six areas in New York Metropolis and Los Angeles. The specialty film from Neon follows a intercourse employee who falls for a Russian oligarch’s son. The function received the prestigious Palme d’Or on the 2024 Cannes Movie Pageant.
Anora posted an estimated per-theater common of $90,000, one of the best displaying since Wes Anderson’s Asteroid Metropolis final 12 months and among the many prime 5 of the previous 5 years. “Baker is a singular director who really understands the facility of the theatrical expertise and the way necessary it’s for movies to be seen within the theater. With Mikey Madison in her unparalleled efficiency as Anora, and the movie’s robust awards potential, there’s little question it’s going to proceed to captivate a broad viewers as we transfer into the autumn,” stated Neon distribution chief Elissa Federoff.
Final weekend, a handful of rival Oscar contenders didn’t fare so nicely when opting to open nationwide versus a platform launch, together with Jason Reitman’s Saturday Evening. Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice fell out of the highest ten in its second weekend.
Extra to return.
Oct. 20, 8:00 a.m.: Up to date with revised estimates.
This story was initially printed Oct. 20 at 9:35 a.m.
