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‘Doctor Sleep’ Snoozes at Weekend Box Office

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What a difference a week makes.  Last weekend, Terminator: Dark Fate debuted with an underwhelming $29 million, appearing to be one of the biggest financial flops of the year.  Well, the executives at Paramount can stop looking for time machines to return to the past and cancel production on Dark Fate, as Doctor Sleep is taking all of the media’s slings and arrows, declaring The Shining sequel as an even worse disaster at the box office.

Warner Bros. Doctor Sleep finished second at the box office this weekend with a comatose $14.1 million.  Initial tracking and projections placed the sequel in the $25-$30 million range.  Finishing with less than half of that total is the type of miscalculation and result that leads to pink slips all around (in addition to the fact that Doctor Sleep lost to Midway, a war film that was on no one’s radar). read more

‘Zombieland 2: Double Tap’ Finishes Third, ‘The Addams Family’ Drops to Fourth at Weekend Box Office

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Facing the continued success of the scariest clown this fall season (Joker) and a good ole’ fashioned Disney witch (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil), Zombieland 2: Double Tap and The Addams Family had to settle for third and fourth place respectively at the weekend box office.

The star-studded cast of the original Zombieland returned for the sequel and delivered a respectable $26.7 million.  Double Tap outperformed the original (without taking inflation into account, of course) which made $24.7 million way back in 2009.  The new film also earned a B+ from those polled by Cinemascore on opening night and also clocked in with a score of 66% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.  Zombieland 2: Double Tap will not have a great deal of competition for action/horror dollars next week, which should allow the film to hang out in next week’s top five (or six) as well. read more

‘The Addams Family’ Creeps Into Second Place at Weekend Box Office

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Families turned out for a dose of nostalgia this weekend in the form of yet another reboot of The Addams Family, which earned just over $30 million in its opening frame for a second place finish at the box office.

Weekend audiences gave the film a B+ on CinemaScore, with women representing 59% of the opening weekend crowd.  48% of the overall audience was also under the age of 17, which is no surprise for an animated film.  The film fared much worse with critics, who gave the film an aggregate score of 44% on Rotten Tomatoes.  Top critics polled like the film even less, only accounting for a score of 27%.  In both cases, the sample size was low for a film with this wide of a release, with only 63 reviews recorded.  The film will have added competition next week from Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil  so The Addams Family should see a sharp decline (60% or more).  The Halloween season may help the film in coming weeks if the kooky family can endure the assault of the popular witch from Sleeping Beauty. read more

‘It: Chapter Two’ Repeats as Weekend Box Office Champ

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It: Chapter Two delivered another win for Warner Brothers and New Line with a second consecutive number one finish at the weekend box office.

Pennywise accounted for an estimated $40.7 million, beating newcomer Hustlers by a wide margin, which earned an estimated $33.2 million in second place.  Hustlers had the upper hand on Friday (mainly due to Thursday preview sales, which are always included in Friday totals), but that pesky clown scared enough people into the the theater on Saturday and Sunday to take the crown once again. read more

‘It: Chapter Two’ Takes Top Spot at Box Office Carnival with $91 Million

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In probably the least surprising box office news of the year, It: Chapter Two dominated all competition at the weekend box office with an estimated $91 million start, although not all of the numbers associated with the sequel are as rosy red as Pennywise’s favorite balloons.

The much more expensive sequel (more than double the first film’s 35 million dollar budget, coming in at $79 million) laughed all the way to the bank for the second best start for a September release, the second best start for a horror film, and the fourth best ever opening for a R-rated feature.  With no direct competition until the original mad clown, The Joker, arrives on October 4, It: Chapter Two should continue to deliver solid numbers for all of September and into the Halloween month of October when horror films traditionally reign supreme. read more

‘Ready or Not’ Finishes in Sixth Place in Weekend Box Office Race

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Despite all of the hype and positive word-of-mouth and critical reception, Ready or Not wasn’t completely ready to dominate the box office this weekend, finishing in sixth place in what has been a particularly underwhelming season for horror films.

Ready or Not brought in a total of $7.5 million over the 3 day weekend, and $10.5 million since its debut on Tuesday night.  Fox Searchlight tried their best to capture audience attention before the weekend began (and Ready or Not is their widest release ever with 2,855 screens), but the film couldn’t muster enough momentum after the early start, even with the highest Cinemascore for a horror movie this summer (B+) and a current score of 87% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.   Ready or Not may find a larger audience on home video platforms, but the bride as “Most Dangerous Game” tale (which surprisingly avoided the scrutiny of President Donald Trump and others, even though it bears many similarities to the recently cancelled Universal film, The Hunt) will be lucky to end its cinematic run with anything north of $25 million. read more

‘Scary Stories’ Finishes in Fifth Place; ’47 Meters Down: Uncaged’ Debuts in Sixth Place at Weekend Box Office

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Lionsgate’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark fell a reasonable -52% in its sophomore frame for an estimated $10 million at the weekend box office. The much-hyped film from director André Øvredal and producer Guillermo del Toro brought its domestic cume to $40.2 million, the second best showing of the summer for a horror film (trailing Annabelle Comes Home) so far.

Internationally, the film added another $5.6 million for an overseas total that now sits at $14 million.  Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark will open  in more international markets over the next few weeks, further increasing the film’s bottom line, which should be able to bring in over $60 million domestically for a world-wide total somewhere in the vicinity of $100 million. read more

‘Crawl’ Stays Afloat at Weekend Box Office

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Crawl took advantage of the lack of head-to-head competition this weekend to hover near the surface and finished in fourth place with an estimated $6 million at the weekend box office.

Crawl’s take dropped a respectable 50%, and the alligator starring jump scare factory only slipped once place, down from its debut in third place last weekend.  The Alexandre Aja film also has managed to play well with audiences over the course of the week, and the total box office sum is already over $23 million in the United States, with an additional $9.9 million from overseas markets (with Indonesia and Malaysia leading the way).  Crawl should continue to bank horror dollars until August, (when four horror films are slated to be released) and it has an outside chance of hitting $40 million domestically. read more

‘Crawl’ Swims Away With Third Place at Weekend Box Office

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Alexandre Aja’s creature feature Crawl latched onto third place at the box office this weekend with an estimated total of $12 million, becoming one of the many horror films this summer to snag a high spot on the countdown despite underwhelming returns.

Paramount’s Crawl entered a crowded swimming pool this weekend with Annabelle Comes Home and Midsommar (both continuing to make decent, but not great money at the box office), and further divided the amount spent on individual horror films.  Many industry insiders predicted a bigger debut from Aja’s alligator rampage, but the top heavy summer box office of 2019 struck again, siphoning the majority of the funds into only two releases (Spider-Man: Far From Home and Toy Story 4).  While super-hero stories and family-friendly films are not direct competition for horror films, it appears that they are limiting the amount spent on them, with parents and baby-sitters deciding to bring children to “sure things” rather than finding entertainment for themselves at the cineplex. read more

‘Annabelle Comes Home’ Takes Fourth, ‘Midsommar’ Shines Bright in Sixth Place at Weekend Box Office

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With a glut of horror releases (let alone all of the releases) this summer, it has been hard for any film to sustain momentum at the box office.  This weekend was no different with a film predicted to dominate the box office (Annabelle Comes Homes) falling short of expectations and a new entry (Midsommar) further adding to the logjam at your local cinema.

WB’s Annabelle Comes Home dropped into fourth place with an estimated $9.8 million, dipping  an expected 52% in its second weekend. The film’s domestic total now stands at $50 million, which is certainly good for any horror film, but the figure is below Conjuringverse expectations.  Annabelle Comes Home currently ranks third in the Annabelle series, $34 million out of second place. Internationally, the film is performing better and added over $20 million overseas for a total of $85 million, which equates to a worldwide total of $135 million.  Again, these numbers are admirable for a horror film, but with increased horror competition next week, expect Annabelle Comes Home to remain in 3rd place in what has become the most profitable series of horror films of all time (and be sure to check out our review right here). read more