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October 22, 2022
 

Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 10.23.2022

 

OPENINGS:  BLACK ADAM (DC/New Line/Warners) arrived within moderate expectations at $67M.  That’s the highest weekend we’ve seen since Thor: Love & Thunder in July, but as a superhero epic with a $300M+ production/marketing budget, it’s far below Love & Thunder ($144.2M), Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness ($187.4M), and DC’s The Batman ($134M).  As of now it appears to be heading for a $150M US total, which would be less than thrilling.  Overseas results are comparable, with $72M from 76 markets, and only Japan still to come barring a release in China.

After weeks of overseas play, TICKET TO PARADISE (Universal) finally reached the US, where it was on the higher end of expectations at $16.3M, particularly notable since its target audience was older women.  Reviews weren’t enthusiastic, however (55% on Rotten Tomatoes), so word of mouth is unclear.  Also, Paradise was fairly pricey by the standards of its genre, with around $125M in production/marketing costs.  Still, after $80M already earned overseas following a $4.8M weekend in 78 markets, the film is on target for mild success.

HOLDOVERS:  SMILE (Paramount) continues to hold sensationally for a horror movie, down 34% to $8.4M in its 4th weekend and on its way to pass $100M in the US.  It also has $82M overseas after a $10M weekend in 61 markets.

At the other extreme, the bottom fell out of HALLOWEEN ENDS (Universal, also on Peacock), which plunged 80% from last week’s opening to $8M, and may not reach $75M in the US.  It won’t be rescued internationally, where it has $27.8M, with Japan the last major opening to come.

LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE (Columbia/Sony) dropped 43% to $4.2M in its 3rd weekend, on track for $40M in the US.  In early overseas release, it has $8.4M after a $4M weekend in 16 territories.

THE WOMAN KING (TriStar/Sony) lost 49% to $1.9M in its 6th weekend, and may reach $70M in the US.  It’s lower overseas, with $20M after a $2M weekend in 38 markets.

The sleeper story of the year may be TERRIFIER 2 (Cinedigm), which only increased its theater count by about 7%, but somehow zoomed by 84% to $1.9M in its 3rd weekend.  With that kind of audience-fueled enthusiasm, there’s no way to be certain at this point what its upper limits may be.  It’s barely been released overseas for now.

LIMITED RELEASE:  Awards season continued to bring openings and expansions.  The major arrival was THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (Searchlight/Disney), which had a weekend per-theater $45K average at 4 NY/LA arthouses, while AFTERSUN (A24) averaged $17K at 4.  (Both were helped by in-theater Q&As.)  The expanding titles found their averages dwindling:  TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (Neon) with $2100 at 280, TAR (Focus/Universal) with $3300 at 141, TILL (Orion/MGM/Amazon) with $3600 at 104, and DECISION TO LEAVE (MUBI) with $6200 at 48.  THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER (Sony) averaged $2300 at 4.

NEXT WEEKEND:  PREY FOR THE DEVIL (Lionsgate) will attempt to mop up the Halloween weekend horror audience, while the awards hunt will commence for ARMAGEDDON TIME (Focus/Universal) and CALL JANE (Roadside).

 

 

 



About the Author

Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."