Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 10.31.2021

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OPENINGS:  Taking the spotlight from higher-profile arrivals, the anime title MY HERO ACADEMIA: WORLD HEROES’ MISSION (Funimation) was the weekend’s highest-grossing newcomer with $6.4M, better than the $5.9M opening for the last Academia movie, 2019’s Heroes Rising.  These films tend to be fairly front-loaded, but Mission should pass $15M in the US, and it has $29.4M overseas.

Oddly, both LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (Focus/Universal) and ANTLERS (Searchlight/Disney) reported a $4.16M weekend tie, with the final result to come in tomorrow’s actuals.  That number is bad for both of them, but particularly for Soho, which was more expensive to produce and much more heavily marketed, including stops at several film festivals over the past several months.  (Edgar Wright’s last film Baby Driver opened to $20.6M in a comparable number of theaters.)  Neither Soho nor Antlers may see much more than $10M in the US.  Both films are also close overseas, with Soho at $2.3M, and Antlers at $2.5M.

THE FRENCH DISPATCH (Searchlight/Disney) expanded to wide (-ish) release at 786 theaters, and its $2.8M weekend represented a per-theater plunge from last week’s $26K to $3500, indicating the continuing limitations of the available arthouse audience.  Wes Anderson’s last live-action film, 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, with a similar release pattern, averaged $8700 when it reached 977 theaters.  Dispatch also has $2.6M overseas.

HOLDOVERS:  DUNE (Legendary/Warners, also on HBO Max), which had its 2nd half officially greenlit last week, fell 62% to $15.5M, a fairly standard drop for a tentpole title even without a simultaneous streaming release (Venom: Let There Be Carnage fell 65% in Weekend 2, and F9 lost 67%).  Dune will be hurt by losing its Imax and other large-format screens to Eternals next week, but should still reach $100M in the US.  Overseas, it’s hit $227M after a $21.4M weekend in 75 territories.

The studio is assuming a strong name day for HALLOWEEN KILLS (Blumhouse/Universal, also on Peacock), resulting in a 41% Weekend 3 drop to $8.5M, and it’s still on target to get past $100M in the US.  It has $29.5M overseas.  These results compared to the $159.3M/$96.3M totals for its 2018 predecessor.

NO TIME TO DIE (MGM) dipped 36% to $7.8M in Weekend 4, on its way to $160M in the US.  As is customary with Bond, it’s much stronger overseas with $472.4M after a $51.9M weekend in 72 markets, which included a $28.2M opening in China.  Its worldwide total is likely to be $100-150M lower than the $880.7M for Bond’s last entry Spectre.

VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE (Marvel/Columbia/Sony) dropped 38% to $5.8M in its 5th weekend, and will likely surpass $200M in the US.  It has $205.4M overseas after a $21.4M weekend in 53 territories.

RON’S GONE WRONG (20th/Disney) lost 48% to $3.8M in its 2nd weekend, and might reach $25M in the US.  It has $20.7M overseas.

As with Halloween Kills, THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2 (UA/MGM, also on VOD) is expecting a strong turnout on Halloween day, and on that basis is reporting a 27% drop to $3.3M in its 5th weekend, with the hope of reaching $65M in the US.  It’s at $27M overseas.

As SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE 10 RINGS (Marvel/Disney) heads off stage for its stablemate Eternals, it fell 47% to $1.1M in its 9th weekend, and might touch $225M in the US before it’s done.  Overseas, it has $200.9M, without a release in China.

LIMITED RELEASE:  THE SOUVENIR PART II (A24) opted for a true platform release in 3 NY/LA arthouses, where it averaged $8800 for the weekend, less than half the $19.6K average for the first Souvenir when it opened at 4 (the vanished theater presumably being the lamented Arclight Hollywood).  HEART OF CHAMPIONS (Vertical) opened at 102 and averaged $360.  MASS (Bleecker Street) tried another expansion and averaged $240 at 77.

NEXT WEEKEND:  ETERNALS (Marvel/Disney) will own the next 2 weeks, with counterprogramming from SPENCER (Neon).