Blumhouse is back in action.
Scott Derrickson’s Black Phone 2 delivered horror maestro Jason Blum a major win in opening to a better-than-expected $26.5 million domestically from 3,411 theaters and $15.5 million from 72 markets overseas for a global start of $42 million globally against a relatively modest $30 million production budget. The pic’s debut follows a string of misses for the Universal-based banner, culminating with the pricey flop of M3GAN 2.0 earlier this year.
The sequel easily came in No. 1 in North America ahead of Disney’s tentpole Tron-Ares after being credited by critics for expanding the Black Phone universe and scoring strong audience exits, including a B CinemaScore (that’s a great grade for the horror genre). Also notable: Latinos, the most frequent moviegoers in the U.S., made up the largest segment of the audience at roughly 39 percent. Internationally, Mexico led all markets with $4.3 million, a huge number for a horror title.
The sequel returns Ethan Hawke as the serial killer known as Grabber, and Mason Thames as Finn. In the follow-up, the sinister killer seeks vengeance on Finn from beyond the grave by menacing his younger sister, Gwen, who is played by Madeleine McGraw.
Heading into the weekend, Universal had the movie’s debut at $18 million, but prerelease tracking turned out to be right in predicting that the R-rated sequel would come in ahead of the first film.
Black Phone, opening in 2021 when cinemas were first recovering from COVID, started off with $23.6 million in North America on its way to turning into a sleeper hit, amassing more than $161 million in worldwide ticket sales (that was before horror fatigue struck at the box office).
Tron: Ares came in second in North America after tumbling more than 65 percent in its sophomore outing to an estimated $11.1 million from 4,000 cinemas for a 10-day domestic tally of $54.6 million. Overseas, the threequel earned another $14.1 million, including a dismal $2.8 million from its debut in China, for a foreign cume of $49.4 million and $103 million globally (the problem? Ares cost a net $180 million to produce).
Lionsgate’s Aziz Ansari-directed comedy Good Fortune launched nationwide this weekend, but didn’t find much gold despite good reviews and a star-packed cast that includes Seth Rogen, Ansari, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh and Keanu Reeves. The $30 million, about a scruffy guardian angel assigned to save someone’s soul, took in an estimated $6.2 million from 2,990 locations domestically for a third-place finish.
Warner Bros.’ One Battle After Another cleared the $100 million mark internationally in its fourth weekend for a global total of $162.5 million. In North America, it grossed an estimated $4 million from 2,532 theaters for a fourth-place finish and domestic tally of $61.9 million. Overseas, the Paul Thomas Anderson-directed awards contender another earned $11.8 million from 71 markets for a foreign tally of $100.6 million.
Miramax’s crime comedy Roofman, starring Channing Tatum and Kirstin Dunst, rounded out the top five in its second weekend with $3.7 million from 3,379 theaters for a domestic total of $15.5 million and $16.4 million globally against a $19 million budget. Paramount has distribution duties in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.
Angel Studios’ Nazi holocaust drama Truth & Treason, based on a true story, opened in sixth place with $2.7 million from 2,106 locations. It was the only new nationwide release to earn an A CinemaScore.
At the awards box office, Luca Guadagnino‘s psychological thriller After the Hunt expanded from six to 1,238 theaters in its second weekend, grossing $1.6 million for a ninth-place finish and location average of $1,257 (that compares to a location average of $1,292 for Truth & Treason, for example). The awards contender, however, did get slapped with a C- CinemaScore. Julia Roberts leads the ensemble cast, which also includes Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny.
More to come.
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