‘Smile 2’ Hits No. 1 at Box Office, While ‘Anora’ Shines in Limited Release

Horror films topped the domestic box office and an Oscar contender got off to a brilliant start this weekend. “Smile 2,” in its first weekend, and “Terrifier 3,” in its second, proved to be big draws for general moviegoing audiences in North America, while Palme d’Or winner “Anora” achieved the best average per cinema in more than a year.

“Smile 2” was the big newcomer, coming in first with a better-than-expected $23 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Parker Finn returned to write and direct the sequel to the supernatural horror “Smile”, his debut. , Paramount pivoted and sent the film to theaters in fall 2022. “Smile” became a huge box office success, grossing an estimated $217 million against a budget of $17 million.

The sequel, starring Naomi Scott as a pop star, was rewarded with a slightly bigger budget and theatrical commitment from the start. Playing on 3,619 screens, it debuted just above the first’s $22 million.

Second place went to “The Wild Robot”, from Universal and DreamWorks Animation, in its fourth weekend, with US$10.1 million, surpassing US$100 million in North America. Family films tend to have long lives in theaters, especially ones as highly rated as “The Wild Robot,” and some speculated there was an impact this weekend with teens buying tickets to the PG-rated family film and then sneaking into “Terrifier 3,” which is unrated, instead. Either way, Damien Leone’s demonic clown film, which only cost $2 million to produce, is doing more than well with legitimate ticket buyers. It added about $9.3 million, bringing its total to $36.2 million.

“Rumors like this are PR gold,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “There’s no better indication that the film is on a roll right now.”

The No. 1 openings of “Smile 2” this weekend and “Terrifier 3” were only possible because of the failure of “Joker: Folie à Deux.” This big-budget sequel continued its death march in its third weekend, dropping another 69% to gross $2.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $56.4 million.

It performed best in “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which came in fourth in its seventh weekend with an additional $5 million, bringing its domestic total to $284 million. Star Michael Keaton also debuted another film this weekend — the father-daughter dramedy “Goodrich,” which grossed just $600,000 from 1,055 locations.

Rounding out the top five was the romantic “We Live In Time,” which expanded to 985 theaters after opening last weekend on 5 screens. The A24 release, starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, grossed $4.2 million over the weekend. The audience was 85% under 35 and 70% female, according to exit surveys. The well-reviewed film will be expanded further next weekend.

One of the other highlights of the weekend was “Anora”, by Sean Baker, which opened in six locations in New York and Los Angeles and grossed around US$630,000. That represents an average of $105,000 per theater, the best since “Asteroid City” averaged $142,000 last summer. The upcoming release of Neon, a Cannes sensation and likely Oscar contender, stars Mikey Madison as a New York sex worker who falls in love with the son of a Russian oligarch.

After several weeks of awards contenders and buzzed-about films (“Piece by Piece,” “Saturday Night,” “The Apprentice,” among them) flopping with audiences, the success of “Anora” is a promising sign that moviegoers they will still seek art. , adult rate.

“For moviegoers, there is a lot on offer across all types of films and in all categories,” said Dergarabedian. “I think we will have a very strong home stretch with a great mix of big and small films.”

The Walt Disney Co. has also had success with several re-releases. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” was in the top 10 with $1.1 million, while “Hocus Pocus” grossed $841,000.

Next weekend we have a major studio comic book movie with “Venom: The Last Dance” as well as an awards film in the papal thriller “Conclave” vying for public attention.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final national numbers will be released on Monday.

1. “Smile 2”, US$23 million.

2. “The Wild Robot”, US$ 10.1 million.

3. “Terrifier 3”, US$9.3 million.

4. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” $5 million.

5. “We Live in Time”, US$4.2 million.

6. “Joker: Folie à Deux,” $2.2 million.

7. “Piece by Piece,” $2.1 million.

8. “Transformers One,” $2 million.

9. “Saturday Night,” $1.8 million.

10. “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” $1.1 million.