Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 10.30.2022

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OPENINGS:  Following several months of strong showings from the horror genre, PREY FOR THE DEVIL (Lionsgate) arrived at $7M to mop up the Halloween weekend remainder.  That was around the expected result, and considering that Prey was a low-budget effort with little national marketing, it might be enough to set a pace for minimal profit.  There were no international openings.

Several awards contenders expanded throughout the country to soft results.  TILL (Orion/MGM/Amazon), now at 2058 theaters, earned $2.8M, giving it a $1400 weekend per-theater average, slightly better than the average for the 3rd weekend of Halloween Ends.

The others fared worse.  TAR (Focus/Universal) widened to 1087 theaters with $1M, giving it an average around $900.  In addition, while the exit polls for Till were very strong, audiences seemed to actively dislike Tar, with only 42% saying they’d recommend it.

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (Neon) moved into 610 theaters with $550K for the weekend and a $900 average.  It also has $4.8M overseas.

CALL JANE (Roadside) opened disastrously at 1070 theaters and averaged an ugly $200.

HOLDOVERS:  With no new direct competition, BLACK ADAM (DC/New Line/Warners) held decently, down 59% to $27.7M, which was better than the 67% Weekend 2 drop for Doctor Strange 2, although steeper than the 50% for The Batman.  Overseas, Black Adam has reached $139M after a $39M weekend in 76 markets (with only Japan still to come, unless there’s an unexpected China release).  The film’s problem is that with $300M+ in costs, a $425M worldwide total may not even hit breakeven.  (By way of comparison, it would be about 20% higher than the global results for Shazam, which cost half as much to produce.)

TICKET TO PARADISE (Universal) is satisfying its older audience, down just 39% to $10M in its 2nd weekend, and on its way to $65M in the US.  That’s on top of its international $85.7M, after a $2.9M weekend in 78 territories.

SMILE (Paramount) continued its march to $100M in the US, with a 40% drop to $5M in its 5th weekend.  It also has $93.6M overseas after a $7M weekend in 62 markets.

HALLOWEEN ENDS (Universal, also on Peacock) fell 52% to $3.8M in its 3rd weekend, and may reach $70M in the US (25% below Halloween Kills, which also ran day-and-date on Peacock).  Like the others in its trilogy, it’s far lower overseas, with $34.3M after a $3.7M weekend in 76 territories.

LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE (Columbia/Sony) dipped 34% to $2.8M, heading past $40M in the US.  It has $18M internationally after a $6M weekend in 40 markets.

Although the remarkable TERRIFIER 2 (Cinedigm) rose again, by 3% to $1.8M, this time it was via a theater count that more than doubled, so the per-theater drop was more like 50%.  Nevertheless, a $12M total should be very profitable for a movie with a $250K production budget and almost no national marketing.

THE WOMAN KING (TriStar/Sony) fell 41% to $1.1M in its 7th weekend, as it continued to stretch toward $70M in the US.  The overseas total is $22.7M after a $1.8M weekend in 38 territories.

LIMITED RELEASE:  Despite some strong critical support, ARMAGEDDON TIME (Focus/Universal) opened in 6 NY/LA arthouses with a soft $12K per-theater average.  THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (Searchlight/Disney) expanded to 58 with a $9300 average.  AFTERSUN (A24) widened to 17 and averaged $4400.

NEXT WEEKEND:  There are no scheduled wide openings, although ONE PIECE FILM: RED (Crunchyroll) may make some noise with an Imax run.