SATURDAY UPDATE: Horror Other Mommy from Universal is now eyeing a $28 million weekend with 3,365 playdates, barreling ahead atop the box office. The film is so far playing well across the board but best in the West, South and South Central U.S, with LA’s AMC Burbank the top grossing cinema.
Tracking was strong on this out of the gate with an effective campaign. Early numbers are shrugging off a soft D+ CinemaScore and PostTrak at 47% in the top two boxes and a not great 33% definite recommend. It’s sitting at 18% with RT critics, 46% with audiences — all of which which could impact the longevity of its run. But maybe not. Is mommy horror especially, creepily alluring? (Will be back with stats on that.) Demos are 51% male to 49% female. The largest cohort is 18 to 24-year-olds at 38%.
In week two, Amazon MGM’s R-rated psychological thriller Verity takes the no. 2 spot with a decent hold, grossing $4 million Friday from 3,572 theaters for an early 3-day weekend estimate of $14.2 million (-56%). The cume now stands at $56.6 million. Directed by Michael Showalter with a screenplay by Nick Antosca based on the Colleen Hoover bestselling book, it stars Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett.
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Similar week two drop as another Hoover adaptation, Reminders Of Him, from Universal back in March.
Columbia Pictures’ Resident Evil continues to hold well grossing $2.3 million on Friday at 3,085 locations for an estimated $8.2 million in week 4 (-35%), bringing its latest domestic total to $138.4 million through Sunday. Zach Cregger (Weapons, Barbarian) reinvents the popular franchise in an all-new story starring Zach Cherry, Kali Reis and Paul Walter Hauser.
Paramount’s survival thriller Heart Of The Beast is looking at a $6.9M weekend (down 37%) at 3,365 theaters in its third weekend out for acume of $49.5M. It made $1.96M Friday. The David Ayer film has an A- CinemaScore, a 94% RT audience score, great staying power. A retired Special Forces veteran (Brad Pitt) and his combat dog must survive the harsh Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash.
Columbia Pictures and Alcon Entertainment’s The Social Network made $2.15 million on Friday from 2,606 locations. The film is projected to open to $6 million for the weekend.
Inspired by true events and the whistleblower who started the social media reckoning we’re seeing play out today, this Aaron Sorkin original screenplay is a companion piece to the hit film The Social Network anda true David and Goliath story. Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), a young Facebook engineer, enlists the help of Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), a Wall Street Journal reporter, to go on a dangerous journey that ends up blowing the whistle on the social network. Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin.
Cinemascore is B-. Audiences like it more than critics at 70% vs 54% Rotten Tomatoes scores. PostTrak: At 75% in the top two boxes and a 59% definite recommend. Demos are 75% male/43% female and 25 to 34-year-olds with 28% of the audience 25-34. Played very well on the coasts with the West and the East representing 54% of the overall gross. AMC Lincoln Square in NY is the leading location.
That said, The Social Network opened to $22M and legged out to $97M back in 2010 as the hugely entertaining origin story of Facebook and its bizarre founder Mark Zuckerberg grabbed the zeitgeist. The massive power wielded by Zuckerberg and other tech titans has only grown since and is certainly worth exploring, but the WSJ stories and Haugen’s explosive testimony before Congress were back in 2021, well covered and much has happened since, except any dramatic fallout for Facebook. It may be that general public is less intrigued at this point by the ills of social media as by AI which is now leading the national conversation.
Universal’s PG-rated Forgotten Island is forging on in week 3 with no real competition in the kids’ market (until Cat In The Hat in November). CinemaScore is a solid A and the DreamWorks Amination film by Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado sits at 95% and 96% with RT critics/auds. The projected 3-day weekend is $5.2 million (-27%) after $1.1M Friday for a projected new cume of about $30 million.
A24’s Primetime ($1.26M weekend, 2,269 screens, est. week 3 cume $38.7M); Digger ($3M weekend, 3,321 screens, est. week 2 cume $14M); Angel And The Bad Man ($935K opening, 2,263 screens); and, notably, The Odyssey look to round out the top ten. After a week hiatus, The Odyssey reclaimed lucrative 70MM Imax prints for a nearly 60% jump in box office this weekend. The Christopher Nolan film — in week 18 –has a projected 3-day gross of $2 million at 560 locations for a cume of $622 million.
FRIDAY PM: Mom is bringing home the bacon. Other Mommy is on track for a $27.5 million opening weekend on 3,365 screens to top the domestic box office. This despite some scathing reviews for the Universal Pictures release by Rob Savage from producer James Wan and Blumhouse Atomic Monster. Jessica Chastain stars in dual roles as real mom and mom creature.
Horror films are a good bet Halloween month and this one topped expectations for Thursday previews of $3.6 million leading into a solid weekend. Friday is at $12.3 million. The number is solid especially given a $19 million budget.
Good comps are Universal’s The Black Phone 1 and 2 with, respectively, $23.6M and $27.3M opening weekends after $3 million and $2.6 million in Thursday previews. U’s The Exorcist: Believer debuted to $26.5M after $2.85 in previews.
from Sony Pictures is indeed struggling at no. 5 after soft previews ($650k) with Friday at $2.3M and the three-day weekend $6M at 2,606 locations. That’s on the lower end of initial projections of about $7M.
The comp was Digger last week, the costly Warner Bros. debacle that opened to $8 million, after $1.2 million in previews. The Aaron Sorkin film (after incentives) cost $30M, significantly less than the Tom Cruise-starring climate change romp, and was 50% financed by Alcon. Reviews were not good here either but matter more as the Facebook-Mark Zuckerberg takedown aims for a more picky crowd than the one turning out for a stretchy mommy.
Backing up, no. 2 for the weekend is Amazon MGM’s Verity in week 2 on 3,572 screens with $3.7 million Friday, a $13.3M weekend and a cume of $55.6 million total for the romantic thriller from the Colleen Hoover novel.
Sony’s Resident Evil is third in week 4 on 3,085 screens with a Friday around $7M for an estimated cume of $137M.
Paramount’s survival thriller Heart Of The Beast is in fourth place in week 3 at 3,365 theaters with an anticipated Friday take of $6.2M for a $49M cume.
A24’s Primetime, Digger and Angel And The Bad Man from Angel Studios round out the top ten.
FRIDAY AM: Universal Pictures release Other Mommy saw a strong $3.6M from previews beginning at 2 p.m. Thursday from 2,850 theaters and opens today on 3,365 screens. The Social Reckoning is reckoning with $650k.
Other Mommy, the Jessica Chastain-toplined horror by Rob Savage from producer James Wan and Blumhouse Atomic Monster sees a young girl (Arabella Olivia Clark) form a relationship with a sinister entity in her home who looks uncannily like her own mother. Oscar winner Chastain and It: Chapter Two star plays dual roles as the real and the other mother.
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The previews were strong for a Blumhouse movie of this size, though early reviews are very far from kind. Horror has been a safe bet in the run-up to Halloween, and while the market is crowded, there are no new tentpoles. The R-rated Other Mommy was eyeing an opening in the mid-$20 million range. We’ll see how the reviews and audience reaction impact the weekend.
Universal Pictures/Everett Collection
Sony’s The Social Reckoning from Columbia Pictures and Alcon Entertainment took in a soft $650K for Thursday previews starting at 4 p.m. at 2,368 locations. Aaron Sorkin’s follow-up to 2010’s The Social Network is at 59% fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Inspired by true events, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) enlists the help of Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) to expose the nefarious doings of the social media giant. Jeremy Strong stepped in as Mark Zuckerberg, who was played by Jesse Eisenberg in Social Network.
The comp for this was Digger, which posted previews of $1.2M last week. The Social Network production cost (after incentives) came in at $30M is significantly cheaper than the Warner. Bros pic, and it is 50% financed by Alcon. Projections are for an opening weekend in the mid-single digit millions.
How the week’s top 5 went:
1. Verity(Amazon MGM) 3,510 theaters, Wk $42.4M
2. Resident Evil (Sony) 3,256 theaters, Wk $17.8M, Total $130.2M/Wk3
3. Heart of the Beast (Paramount) 3,481, Wk $15.1M, Total $42.5M, Wk 2
4. Primetime (A24) 2,894, Wk $10.8M, Total $38.8M, Wk 2
5. Digger (Warner Bros.) 3,321, Wk $11.2M
