During a quiet weekend at the nation's multiplexes, Five Nights at Freddy's prevailed again, despite a huge post-Halloween drop, as none of the newcomers were able to make much of an impact.
(Still playing catch-up)
The good news for video game adaption Five Nights at Freddy's is that, despite Halloween being in the rear-view mirror, it easily stayed at #1 for its second weekend. It also moved past both the $100 million mark and the final gross of Scream VI to become 2023's highest-grossing horror film, a milestone it's likely to retain unless Thanksgiving unexpectedly takes off. It also had a better second weekend drop than Halloween Ends did last year. The bad news is that said drop was still 76%, and Freddy's is still #1 mostly by default, after no major film moved in to replace the departed Dune Part Two on this weekend. That said, Universal probably doesn't care, as the film was likely greenlit with the idea that $80 million would be a fantastic final gross, not just its opening weekend gross, and any money the film makes going forward is just gravy.
The second weekend of Freddy's took in $19 million, for a ten-day total of $113.2 million. A drop like that probably means that Freddy won't be able to double its opening weekend gross, but again, Universal probably doesn't care. Expect Five Nights 2 on October 25, 2024.
Staying steady in second is Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which by contrast fell a slim 12% to $13.6 million. The biggest concert film of all time is now sitting at $166 million.
In third, Killers of the Flower Moon was able to stabilize, coming up with $6.9 million for a gross of $52.2 million. Despite being a very expensive film, this one is more of an awards play, and there's nothing so far suggesting it won't be showered with Oscar nominations in a couple of months. Of course, there might be some irony if it loses a lot of those Oscars to Oppenheimer, with did manage to earn blockbuster grosses. Still, it seems likely that Scorsese will be able to find funding for his next two films, both period pieces with DiCaprio--a biopic of Theodore Roosevelt and a drama about shipwrecked sailors.
Speaking of biopics from prestigious directors, Priscilla, Sofia Coppola's examination of the life of Mrs. Presley, had a decent expansion, taking in $5 million for a ten-day total of $5.3 million. It's not going to make anywhere near the money that Elvis did last year, but it could end up with a few Oscar nominations of its own, with Cailee Spaeny, in the title role, being a prime contender for a Best Actress nod.
Bollywood movies have become regular staples in the Top 10, but for whatever reason, Spanish-language titles rarely crack the chart, despite the sheer number of native Spanish speakers in the US. What Spanish-language titles do break through are usually released by Pantelion, and frequently star bilingual actor Eugenio Derbez. That describes Radical, starring Derbez as an inspirational teacher. The drama opened to $2.7 million, a solid start for any film not in English.
Even though Halloween is over, The Exorcist: Believer had a surprisingly small fall from last week, to $2.1 million, bringing its total to $63.1 million. Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie had an even smaller drop, to $2 million, for a gross of $62.1 million.
Christian documentary After Death, which may have taken advantage of its horror-sounding title for a better-than-expected opening last week, held up better than Five Nights at Freddy's, but not by much, falling 60% to $2 million. The film about the afterlife has a ten-day gross of $9 million.
30 years ago, Meg Ryan was the queen of the romcoms, with such huge hits as When Harry Met Sally..., Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail to her credit. Alas, the turn of the millennium led to a decline in her career, and she hasn't been in a wide-release movie since 2008's The Women. Unfortunately, her 15-year hiatus from multiplexes didn't do much for the grosses of her new romcom, What Happens Later, which she also directed. Co-starring with David Duchovny, another actor whose career peaked in the 90s, Later could only scrounge up $1.5 million on what will likely be a brief theatrical release on its way to streaming.
Rounding out the Top 10, another film that probably would have done better in the 90s, the action comedy Freelance starring John Cena, struggled to $1.2 million, for a ten-day total of $4.2 million.
Opening in 13th was the crime drama The Marsh King's Daughter starring Star Wars vet Ben Mendelsohn as an escaped convict and Star Wars vet Daisy Ridley as the daughter living in fear of his return. That time in a galaxy far, far away didn't help the box office of their latest, which could only manage $0.9 million. Even farther down the chart, Sony hoped that the wide-open weekend might help juice the grosses of August flop Gran Turismo. It didn't, as the film's expansion made less this weekend than Oppenheimer did, even though that one was playing on just a third of the screens.
The holiday movie season finally launches in earnest this weekend with The Marvels. The latest MCU entry is the sequel to Capitan Marvel, returning Bree Larson to center stage in a film. This can also be seen as a sequel to Disney+ shows WandaVision and Ms. Marvel, as co-stars Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani debuted their characters in those shows respectively. Alas, in a year where the DCU completely collapsed, there are signs that The Marvels might be one of the lowest-grossing openers for the MCU ever, possibly rivaling the poor reception of The Incredible Hulk back in 2008. It should still be an easy #1, but don't expect any eye-popping numbers. Also opening is the musical Journey to Bethlehem, a musical retelling of the Nativity story, whose biggest name is Antonio Banderas, who probably got a nice paycheck for showing up for a couple scenes as King Herod. Mary and Joseph, meanwhile, are played by Fiona Palomo, who seems best-known for starring on Mexican TV shows, and Milo Manheim, whose best known for playing a singing and dancing zombie in all three entries of Disney Channel's bizarre Zombies trilogy. Christian-aimed movies can be unpredictable, but it will be interesting to see if it can top the $4.3 million that the last big Nativity movie, Christmas With the Chosen: The Messengers, made two years ago. Just how big--or small--will The Marvels open? We'll find out next week.
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