MONDAY AM UPDATE: The suspense as to who won one of the lowest grossing weekends of 2025 has ended, and it was Universal/Blumhouse’s Black Phone 2 all along coming in with $8.3M, -35%, after a Sunday of $2.36M, -33% from Saturday. The 17-day running total is $61.7M, just -1% behind the running cume of 2022’s Black Phone which finaled at $90.1M. Black Phone 2 is also 17% ahead of the 17-day running total of Paramount’s Smile 2 a year again when ended its domestic run at $69M.
Paramount’s Regretting You came in at $7.8M, -43%, better than where rivals spotted it, but under the No. 1 win that the Melrose Ave lot was forecasting yesterday AM. The feature take of the Colleen Hoover novel had a -25% hold on Sunday off Saturday with $2.8M for a ten-day cume of $27.2M. That’s $6.3M behind the same period as Universal’s fall 2022 female skewing movie Ticket to Paradise, that title finaling at $68M stateside.
Sony/Crunchyroll’s Chainsaw Man came in where we were seeing it on Sunday AM, with a second weekend just over $6M in third
Pushing its way to 4th was Netflix’s second weekend of Kpop Demon Hunters which estimates have at $5.9M in 4th after a $2.3M Sunday, -22% from its near $3M Saturday. Running cume per Deadline estimates is $24.9M.
Focus Features’ Bugonia came in better than expected with a $5M wide break at 2,043 theaters in 5th. Again, that’s the best wide weekend ever for Yorgos Lanthimos. Already the movie in its 10-days of play at $6M is ahead of the total $5M domestic run of the filmmaker’s summer 2024 title, Kinds of Kindness.
It wasn’t the lowest weekend of the year when you factor in Kpop Demon Hunters. Comscore sans the Netflix movie reported $49.7M for the frame yesterday, but when you account for Regretting You and Kpop, that brings the frame to around $55.5M which is the fourth lowest of the year, ahead of the March 14-16 weekend when Paramount’s Novocaine led with an $8.8M opening. But having Halloween on a Friday spells death to cinemas: This weekend was -22% from the same frame a year ago when the second weekend of Venom: Last Dance led all movies to $71.6M per Box Office Mojo.
UPDATE SUNDAY AM: Paramount is calling the second weekend of their feature take of Colleen Hoover novel Regretting You at an $8.1M No. 1 win over Universal/Blumhouse’s Black Phone 2 which is being called at $8M.
This death match between a movie about a mother and daughter in mourning, and that of a devil-faced kidnapper will come down to Sunday. Paramount is betting that young women bounce back today like they did post World Series Baseball last weekend.
The math on Regretting You is not working out this morning for several non-Paramount executives.
Note that rivals see Black Phone 2 winning the weekend over Regretting You, $8M to $7.2M. It’s expected that the Ethan Hawke Blumhouse movie will post a $2.1M Sunday while Regretting You does about $2.3M. Paramount is betting that Regretting You posts a $3.1M Sunday after its $1.25M Friday and $3.75M Saturday.
Most titles in the top 10 saw 100% surges or more between their Saturdays and a sleepy Friday; Paramount’s feature take of Colleen Hoover novel Regretting You posted the biggest jump of 213% between its $3.75M Saturday and $1.2M Friday.
Netflix’s Kpop Demon Hunters came in closer to the range we were seeing ahead of the weekend (which was $6M) with an estimated $5.3M after a $600K Friday and $2.74M Saturday for a $24.3M running cume. The streamer doesn’t report box office figures. But alas, sans any great marketing push, the Sony anime production wasn’t all that in its second go-round unlike its late August stunt play sans AMC. Again, this time around AMC decided to play Netflix’s most watched feature of all-time.
If you were at the cinemas this weekend, you’d think the entertainment format was dead. But if you were at Universal Studios’ Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights, you’d see that the yield of the feature film business is in great shape with crowds waiting 2 hours to get into experiences such as Terrifier and Five Nights at Freddy’s. It’s just that no one wanted to go to the movies this weekend with Halloween falling on a Friday and the World Series Game 7 with an L.A. Dodgers win last night. Oh, Disney/20th Century Studios’ Predator: Badlands, save us next weekend! “The cavalry cannot get here soon enough” exclaims Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian in a note to press this AM about the tentpole product on deck for November and December course-correcting this awful October.
As far as the October doldrums, distribution sources believe that it’s not a bellwether, rather the solution lies in a steady supply of must-see theatrical events which audiences will show up for. That’s the only way to get back to pre-Covid levels. Remember, this October didn’t work because Tron: Ares did not, and Warner Bros moved their highly anticipated Mortal Kombat II to early May next summer. There was some counterprogramming hope around these adult prestige titles, i.e. Smashing Machine and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere from a distance, but when they actually arrived, they couldn’t make a dent.
Comscore at the time of this post is still working through the numbers and figuring whether this is the lowest weekend at the box office YTD. Estimates this morning show $53.5M for all titles which would make the frame second lowest of 2025 behind, March 14-16 which hit bottom at $52.1M per Box Office Mojo. That’s when Paramount opened Novocaine to $8.8M.
- Regretting You (Par) 3,425 (+32) theaters, Fri $1.25M (-77%) Sat $3.75M Sun $3.1M 3-day $8.1M (-41%), Total $27.5M/Wk 2
- Black Phone 2 (Uni) 3,305 (-155) theaters, Fri $2.4M (-38%) Sat $3.4M Sun $2.1M 3-day $8M (-38%), Total $61.4M/Wk 3
- Chainsaw Man (Sony) 3,003 theaters, Fri $1.3M (-85%) Sat $2.66M Sun $2M 3-day $6M (-66%), total $30.7M/Wk 2
Imax brought in $500K for a 10-day total in the large format exhibitor’s auditoriums of $4.7M. - Kpop Demon Hunters (Netflix) 2,890 theaters, Fri $600K Sat $2.74M Sun $1.96M 3-day $5.3M (n/a), Total $24.3M/Wk 2
- Bugonia (Foc) 2,043 (+2,026) theaters, Fri $1.85M, Sat $1.74M Sun $1.2M 3-day $4.8M (+576%), Total $5.8M/Wk 2
- Back to the Future(re) 2,290 theaters, Fri $1.56M, Sat $1.9M Sun $1.24M 3-day $4.7M/Lifetime total $221.7M/Wk 1 reissue
Imax screens stateside delivered $1M of the gross. - Springsteen…(20th) 3,460 theaters, Fri $840K (-77%) Sat $1.75M Sun $1.2M 3-day $3.8M (-57%)/Total $16.2M/Wk 2
- Tron: Ares (Dis) 2,575 (-365) theaters, Fri $600K (-54%) Sat $1.4M Sun $800K 3-day $2.8M (-43%), Total $67.9M/Wk 4
- Stitch Head (Briar) 2,162 theaters, Fri $350K, Sat $985K Sun $765K 3-day $2.1M, Total $2.5M (opened on Wed)/Wk 1
- Good Fortune (LG) 2,150 (-840) theaters Fri $330K Sat $680K Sun $390K 3-day $1.4M (-55%) Total $14.6M/Wk 3
- One Battle After Another(WB) 904 (-569) theaters Fri $250K Sat $560K Sun $340K 3-day $1.15M (-49%) Total $67.7M/Wk 6
Noteable:
Baahubli: The Epic (Var) 448 theaters, Fri $484K, Sat $250K Sun $150K, 3-day $837K/Wk 1
From RRR filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli, this epic is billed as a “new vision of the two-film Baahubali series”, the second Baahubali still being the highest grossing Indian film of all time in North America. It’s remastered and edited into a single cinematic experience by Rajamouli at four hours plus intermission. First day shows on Wednesday had 160 PLF screens including Imax and Dolby with sell-outs in particular at AMC Lincoln Square NYC. Also solid play in Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin, Seattle, Atlanta, DC, Kansas City, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Cleveland.
Anniversary (RSA) 809 theaters, Fri $72K Sat $110K Sun $77K 3-day $259K, PTA $320, Total $344K /Wk 1
How Fathom’s release of Summit/Lionsgate’s Twilight series did over the last five days:
Twilight – Wed. $1.54M
Twilight: New Moon Thur $590K
Twilight: Eclipse– Fri $303K
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1– Sat $504,7K
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 – Sun $590K
UPDATE SATURDAY AM: The lowest October in 27 years is coming to a close with the lowest weekend of the year at around $49M, no thanks to Halloween falling on a Friday, but the horror doesn’t stop there: Anyone expecting a boost for business today has to deal with the final World Series game between LA Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Comscore reported earlier this week that October was coming in at $440M, which is the lowest October has ever seen since 1998, which did $455.5M. The biggest October ever belongs to 2018, which did $832.8M — there were three tentpoles that month with Venom, A Star Is Born and Halloween, which combined, did some $481M for the month alone. October 2024 brought in $478M, this past month being -8% off from that. The biggest October post-pandemic belongs to 2021, when moviegoers were coming back from Covid, and the month was stacked with Dune, No Time to Die and Venom 2, that frame amounting to $645M. After surprises such as Conjuring: Last Rites and Demon Slayer Infinity Castle in September, October dragged the fall box office behind per Comscore with $1 billion for the post Labor Day through Oct. 30 period, -2.2% behind the same period a year ago. On the plus side, the 2025 box office for Jan. 1-Oct. 30 is clocking $7 billion, +3% from a year ago, but still -24% from pre-Covid 2019 which grossed $9.26 billion by this point in time.
Universal/Blumhouse’s third weekend of Black Phone 2is leading with $7.6M, -41%, for a running cume of $61M. The scary movie led all titles on Halloween with $2.4M while Focus Features’ Bugonia was second with $1.8M.
Meanwhile per industry estimates, because Netflix doesn’t report, KPop Demon Huntersat 2,890 theaters grossed $600K yesterday for what’s shaping up to be a $3.4M second three-day weekend. As one distribution source predicted about the most watched Netflix title coming back to cinemas: “I don’t think there’s more juice left in that squeeze.”
Bugonia, which cost a lot for a Yorgos Lanthimos movie at $45M, with a higher price for what Focus acquired it for, is coming in with the biggest opening for the offbeat filmmaker at $4.4M in its wide break from 17 to 2,043 theaters. The movie gets a B CinemaScore, an 80% positive and a 53% definite recommend in Screen Engine/Comscore PostTrak audience exits. Clearly the question raised will be, well, if we took out Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere last weekend, shouldn’t we take out Bugonia? They cost a similar amount, with Springsteen opening at $8.8M, and similar exits (Springsteen was B+). But they’re two different movies: One is aimed at a hipster arthouse crowd, the other at older fans of a rock icon who didn’t show up. If Bugonia can get to a $30M gross and $100M-plus global take, consider it a gross right in Lanthimos’ wheelhouse: his Oscar winners The Favourite did $34.3M domestic, $95.9M global, and Poor Things wound up with $34.5M domestic/$117.6M worldwide. Focus is playing the Conclave date of the calendar rather than taking Bugonia out over Thanksgiving or Christmas which is where Searchlight played his previous two awards contenders. Note, Bugonia‘s weekend alone amounts close to the entire domestic run of his previous Searchlight dud, Kinds of Kindness, which only grossed $5M domestic, and $16.4M global in June 2024.
Bugonia played best in the East and the West with 51% of its tickets sales from both coasts versus the 43% norm for all other titles in the marketplace. Male leaning at 61%. 63% in 18-34 (a demo which the specialty distributors should make more movies for). Diversity demos were 53% Caucasian, 24% Latino and Hispanic, 7% Black, 7% Asian American and 6% Native American. The Alamo DC 9 is the top grossing location for the Emma Stone-Jesse Plemmons pic with around $8K.
Briarcliff Entertainment has the animated kids spooky pic Stitch Headwhich did $350K yesterday for what’s looking like a $2.2M opening at 2,162. Best areas of play yesterday were South, Midwest and South Central, with standout markets being Chicago, Houston, and Atlanta. The Cinema 10 in Huntsville TX posted the best gross with $1K. Twenty-six reviews from critics amounted to a paltry 69% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Roadside Attractions has the political thriller Anniversary, starring Diane Lane, Kyle Chandler, Dylan O’Brien, Phoebe Dynevor and Zoey Deutch, about a very close-knit family that is torn apart as a new movement “The Change” envelops the country. Directed and co-written by Jan Komasa, the pic counts 67% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes from 43 reviews, a $72K Friday and forecasted $247K 3-day from 809 theaters or a $305 per theater.
Saturday estimates:
- Black Phone 2 (Uni) 3,305 (-155) theaters, Fri $2.4M (-38%), 3-day $7.6M (-41%), Total $61M/Wk 3
- Regretting You (Par) 3,425 (+32) theaters, Fri $1.2M (-77%), 3-day $6.65M (-51%), Total $26M/Wk 2
- Chainsaw Man (Sony) 3,003 theaters, Fri $1.3M (-85%), 3-day $5.5M (-69%), total $30.2M/Wk 2
- Bugonia (Foc) 2,043 (+2,026) theaters, Fri $1.8M, 3-day $4.4M, Total $5.4M/Wk 2
- Back to the Future (re) 2,290 theaters, Fri $1.56M, 3-day $3.9M/Lifetime total $220.9M/Wk 1 reissue
- Springsteen…(20th) 3,460 theaters, Fri $840K (-77%) 3-day $3.55M (-60%)/Total $16M/Wk 2
- Kpop Demon Hunters (Net) 2,890 theaters, Fri $600K, 3-day $3.4M, Total $22.4M/Wk 2
- Tron: Ares (Dis) 2,575 (-365) theaters, Fri $600K (-54%), 3-day $2.8M (-43%), Total $67.9M/Wk 4
- Stitch Head (Briar) 2,162 theaters, Fri $350K, 3-day $2.2M/Wk 1
- Baahubli: The Epic (Var) 448 theaters, Fri $480K, 3-day $1.1M/Wk 1
PREVIOUS FRIDAY MIDDAY: In a weak box office weekend with Halloween festivities stealing audiences away today, Universal/Blumhouse’s Black Phone 2 will pop back up to No. 1 in its third frame with a $7.6 million take, down 41% from last weekend for a running cume of $61M.
As we told you earlier, the last time Halloween fell on a Friday was 2014, and a Universal/Blumhouse horror movie ruled then: the second weekend of Ouija, with $10.7M. That title led Halloween Friday with a $3.4M take and then popped by 47% on Saturday with $5M. So goes the hope for all distributors that business comes roaring back on Saturday, but it’s not expected to be anything to brag about.
The midday charts right now show a toss-up for the overall weekend for No. 2 between Paramount’s feature take on Colleen Hoover’s Regretting You and Sony/Crunchyroll’s Chainsaw Man, both estimated around $4.8M. For Chainsaw Man, that’s a 73% decline for a running cume of $29.5M. For Regretting You, that reps a 65% decline from its $13.68M opening for a running cume of $24.1M.
Bugonia, Focus Features’ wide break of Yorgos Lanthimos’ fifth collaboration with Emma Stone, is eyeing a $4M second weekend after jumping from 17 theaters in NY/LA/Austin last weekend to 2,043. That’s the biggest wide weekend ever for the Oscar-winning Greek filmmaker, his previous high being the eighth weekend of Poor Things, which cleared $2.9M in 2023. The new pic’s second Friday of $1.7M includes $700,000 in previews from 1,700 theaters.
Note that preview figure is ahead of Conclave‘s Thursday previews of $500K a year ago, which posted a $6.6M opening at 1,753 theaters, And it’s not far from Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, whose wide-break Thursday previews did $850K during the summer; that wide weekend — its second frame — posted $6.27M at 1,678. There is hope for the long haul on Bugonia based on its 87% with critics and 89% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Lanthimos’ Oscar-winning Poor Things was 92% certified fresh with critics and 80% with audiences, while his other Academy Award-winning The Favourite was 93% certified fresh and 71% with audiences in 2018.
Universal’s re-release of Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future at 2,290, with the boost of Imax, is looking at a Friday of $1.55M, which includes $650K previews from last night in what’s shaping up to be a $3.8M three-day total. This is the 40th anniversary reissue of the blockbuster starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. By comparison, Uni’s re-release of Jaws for its 50th anniversary posted a three-day of $8.2M over Labor Day weekend.
Disney is hoping for a $4M+ second weekend on Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, but rivals see the Jeremy Allen White-led pic lower. At that level, it’s a 55% decline with a $16.4M running cume by EOD Sunday.
After making $1.55M with the reissue of 2008’s Twilight, Fathom Entertainment’s re-release of that pic’s 2009 sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon did $590K at 1,504 theaters Thursday night. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse plays today, followed by Breaking Dawn Part 1 on Saturday and Breaking Dawn Part 2 on Sunday. The re-release of the Summit/Lionsgate franchise is in celebration of the novel’s 20th anniversary.
From Deadline.com
