“Smile 2” grossed a respectable $23 million in its opening weekend, easily topping the otherwise deserted North American box office charts.
The R-rated sequel to Paramount’s creepy psychological thriller “Smile” debuted on par with expectations, opening with $22.6 million in 2022. The movie was commissioned for streaming before turning to theaters, but the sleeper was a hit with $105 million domestically and $217 million worldwide. The sequel film also opened to $23 million overseas and had a worldwide start of $46 million.
Parker Finn returned to direct Smile 2, which cost $28 million to make. Naomi Scott plays a pop singer who begins to experience a series of disturbing events while setting out on tour. It received positive reviews from audiences and received a “B” grade on CinemaScore, an improvement from its predecessor’s “B-” mark.
“Horror series are one of the most difficult genres to sustain over multiple episodes,” said David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “So you can do this [opening] Especially good. ”
While several titles opened at the specialty box office, “Smile 2” was the only national release this weekend. A24’s tear-jerking romantic drama “We Live in Time” debuted at No. 5 with $4.1 million from just 955 theaters. The film, starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh as a young couple in an enviable situation, has grossed $4.5 million to date after a week in limited release. The main ticket buyers were young women, with 85% of the audience under 35 and 70% female.
Paul Dergarabedian, Senior Analyst at comScore, said: “A highly engaging cast, an entertaining, moving and romantic plot with a touch of the legendary A24 magic make ‘We Live in Time’ a great success. became a groundbreaking indie hit.”
Anora, the Palme d’Or winner directed by another newcomer, Sean Baker, brought in $540,000 from just six theaters in Los Angeles and New York City. That equates to $90,000 per location, and according to distributor Neon, it’s the best-performing screen average of the year, a key metric for platform releases. It also had the second-highest screen average in the post-pandemic era, behind Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, and ahead of Parasite, Uncut Gems and On Her Majesty’s Favourite. Along with this, it was in the top five for the past five years. The film, a comical portrayal of an exotic dancer and sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, is likely to gain further influence and enter the awards race this fall.
“Amid Oscar buzz and critical acclaim, ‘Anora’ debuted to a smash hit before its theatrical release, reflecting the interest in this high-wattage awards season nominee.” Dergarabedian added.
Elsewhere, “Joker: Folie à Deux” plummeted to sixth place in its third week of release, collecting $2.18 million from 2,857 venues. The sequel to 2019’s billion dollar hit “Joker” has so far grossed $56.4 million domestically and $168 million worldwide. By comparison, the original Joker grossed $96.2 million domestically and $248.4 million worldwide during its opening weekend. With a budget of $200 million, Warner Bros.’ sequel will likely fall far short of that revenue by the time it hits theaters.
“Beetlejuice,” another Warner Bros. centerpiece that opened four weeks before “Joker 2,” came in at No. 4 with $5 million from 3,251 stores. Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice sequel remained in the top five of the domestic charts for seven consecutive weekends and has grossed a solid $283 million in North America and $425 million worldwide to date. I’m raising it.
Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” remained in second place with $10 million in its fourth weekend of release. The family film has so far grossed $101.7 million domestically and about $160 million worldwide.
Last weekend’s surprise winner, “Terrifier 3,” added $9.1 million for its second installment, but was down 52% from its debut. This super gory low-budget slasher movie has grossed $36 million so far. The third installment of the “Terrifier” series is a work about the demonic Art the Clown who slaughters small towns, and surpasses the previous work in 2022, which earned $10 million domestically and $15.7 million worldwide. It has already surpassed the worldwide box office revenue of “Terrifier 2,” which was released in 2019.
Even more in the future…
