Paramount is smiling broadly this weekend as its chilling picture Smile continued to hold the top spot in its sophomore outing with a projected gross of $17.6 million from 3,659 theaters. That’s a drop of just 22 percent, one of the best controls of all time for the horror genre.
The news was just as good abroad. Smile earned $17.5 million from 61 markets for a foreign account of $40 million and a global cume of $88.9 million to make $17 million a big profit maker.
Smile earned more than enough to top Sony’s new family film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile , which opened to about $11.5 million domestically. Sony expects the film to benefit from Monday’s Indigenous People’s Day holiday and earn a total of $13.4 million through Monday.
Heading into the weekend, most of Hollywood expected Lyle, Lyle, based on the children’s book of the same name, to win the three-day frame, if only by a narrow margin. The film currently holds a 68 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and has earned an A- CinemaScore from audiences.
The bombshell of the weekend is David O. Russell’s star-studded film Amsterdam. The mystery comedy opened to an estimated $6.5 million from 2,005 locations after being panned by critics. It currently holds a 33 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the lowest of the filmmaker’s career, along with stars Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and John David Washington. Audiences gave it a slightly better CinemaScore rating of B.
Amsterdam is a New Regency film distributed by Disney. As the reviews started coming in, the follow-up lowered its projection to $10 million, as the film’s target audience (older adults, and especially older women) is more influenced by critics. However, even this figure was bullish.
Universal, which made Bros, didn’t disappear entirely. Overseas, the studio’s George Clooney-Julia Roberts romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise crossed the $60 million mark ahead of its Oct. 21 domestic debut.
At one point, bullish box office analysts and exhibitors believed that Lyle, Lyle and Amsterdam could open in the mid-teens.
The Woman King and Don’t Worry Darling rounded out the top five, followed by the Avatar remake.
Sony’s Woman King took fourth place with $5.3 million for a domestic total of $54.1 million. Warner Bros.’ Don’t Worry Darling followed with $2.5 million for a domestic total of $38.5 million and a global cume of $69.3 million.
The 3D remake of James Cameron’s Avatar continued to impress, earning $2.6 million for a domestic total of $23.3 million. All told, the Disney and 20th Century release has grossed $71.9 million worldwide.
Unlike Smile, Bros was hardly happy in its second weekend. The gay rom-com, directed by Nicholas Stoller and co-written by Billy Eichner, slipped to No. 6 or 7 with an estimated $2.2 million for a 10-day domestic total of $8.9 million (the film fell 55 percent). ). Eichner took to Twitter last weekend after the film’s fifth-place release to say homophobia was a major reason for the poor showing before encouraging everyone to see the film .
On the other hand, the awards box office is starting in earnest with Todd Field’s Tár and Ruben Ostlund’s Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness opening in select theaters with promising numbers.
From Focus Features and starring Cate Blanchett, Tár posted the best average location of the weekend and one of the best of the year, or $40,000, as it opened in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles. It was #1 in three theaters, including New York’s AMC Lincoln Square and LA’s AMC Grove.
Neon’s Triangle of Sadness opted for a wider opening footprint or 10 locations. The Woody Harrelson starrer is expected to post an average location of $21,500 or more.
October 9, 8:05 am PT: Updated with Sunday’s box office numbers and international earnings.