“‘Black Phone 2’ Snatches Weekend Crown—But Why Is Hollywood Sweating This ‘Hollow’ Victory Like a Scorpio on a Hot Mic?”
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Well, if ever there was a cosmic comedy of errors, the Halloween weekend box office just delivered one heck of a plot twist that even Mercury in retrograde would envy. Paramount strutted out declaring Regretting You the reigning champion of fright-night ticket sales, boasting $8.1 million from over 3,200 screens—talk about confidence! But hold your broomsticks, because Universal and Blumhouse quietly whispered back with Black Phone 2, nearly neck and neck and actually pulling ahead with $8.3 million in the final tally. Seems like these box office battle lines were drawn under a Scorpio moon, teasing intensity and secret rivalry—but with a twist of disappointment, as overall ticket sales plummeted to the lowest Halloween haul in 31 years. No blockbuster vampire, no venomous sequel (looking at you, Venom: The Last Dance), and a packed weekend dominated by Halloween festivities and the World Series meant Hollywood had to settle for a mix of holdovers and nostalgic reboots, including the timeless Back to the Future clocking in at a surprising fifth place. So, while Regretting You had its moment of glory among the stars, the box office scene felt more like a haunted house filled with empty seats—and trust me, that’s scarier than any thriller this weekend. Care to peek behind the curtain of this spooky showdown? LEARN MORE
On Sunday, Paramount boldly proclaimed that Regretting You — the second Colleen Hoover book adaptation to hit the big screen after It Ends With Us — was the victor of this year’s Halloween box office contest with $8.1 million from 3,245 cinemas in its sophomore outing.
Universal likewise estimated a first-place finish for Blumhouse’s Black Phone 2 with $8 million from 3,425 cinemas. Most rival studios also showed the horror sequel, now in its third weekend, coming in ahead of Regretting You.
Paramount had good reason to be bullish. The prior weekend, Regretting You did switch positions with Black Phone and come in at No. 1 when Monday actuals tallied. This time, though, Paramount missed the mark. According to final numbers, Regretting You grossed $7.8 million, while Black Phone 2 came in at $8.3 million.
Generally in such situations, a studio in Universal’s position would have called the contest a tie on Sunday, but in this case, no one complained, considering overall ticket sales for the weekend came in at $52.4 million — the worst showing of the year to date.
But that’s not the most frightening fact — it was the lowest-grossing Halloween weekend in 31 years, according to Comscore. This excludes 2020, when the COVID-19 crisis forced theater closures for months.
The last time Halloween weekend revenue came in lower was in 1993, when combined ticket sales reached $49.2 million, and that’s not adjusted for inflation, according to Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
“While this was a truly scary weekend for the industry, a confluence of factors created an imperfect marketplace storm wherein Halloween festivities along with one of the biggest sporting events on the planet [the World Series] dominated the zeitgeist over the weekend and thus had the effect of taking the spotlight off the movie theater experience,” says Dergarabedian, adding studios and cinemas should be commended for doing what they could to shore up the holes.
This year’s Halloween weekend meltdown — which caps the worst October in 27 years — is due to the lack of a big commercial title on the marquee, such as 2024’s Venom: The Last Dance. This year, exhibitors had to rely on an eclectic batch of holdovers; rereleases, including Back to the Future; and the expansion of Focus Features’ awards darling and specialty offering Bugonia.
Halloween is always a tough holiday for Hollywood and cinema owners, especially when the actual day falls on a Friday, as it did this year. Regretting You took a major hit that day since its target audience — younger females — were otherwise occupied. On Saturday, sales spiked 200 percent.
Domestically, Regretting You has earned $27.2 million in its first 10 days. Overseas, it earned another $8.2 million from 56 markets for a foreign tally of $23.3 million and north of $50 million globally. That’s a tidy number for the inexpensive film, which was produced and financed by Constantin Films.
Black Phone 2, a major win for Blumhouse, sailed past the $104 million mark over the weekend after finishing Sunday with a domestic tally of $61.8 million and $43.6 million internationally, including a weekend haul of $7.7 million at the foreign box office.
As expected, the acclaimed Japanese manga pic Chainsaw Man – the Movie: Reze Arc fell off steeply in its second weekend of play at the domestic box office, declining 67 percent to $6 million for a 10-day domestic tally of $30.8 and a dazzling $139 million globally. Sony’s Crunchyroll division is handling Chainsaw Man in the U.S. and a number of foreign markets, excluding Japan. Its share of the total gross is $87.4 million.
Bugonia placed No. 4 with $4.8 million as it expanded into 2,043 theaters after first launching earlier this month in select theaters. That is the widest break ever for a film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, whose credits include Poor Things and The Favourite. Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons lead the high-profile cast. Overseas, the specialty film earned $4.4 million from 47 markets for a foreign total of $5.3 million and $11.1 million globally.
Universal provided a moment of levity when reporting grosses for the 40th anniversary rerelease of Back to the Future, saying it earned $4.7 million from 2,290 theaters in its “2,105th” week for a cume of $221.7 million (that isn’t adjusted for inflation). The classic pic placed an impressive No. 5 domestically and even beat Disney’s Bruce Springsteen biographical drama and awards hopeful Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.
Deliver Me had to settle for No. 6 after falling off a steep 57 percent to $3.8 million from 3,460 theaters for a domestic total of $16.3 million. Overseas, it took in another $4 million from 40 material markets for a foreign tally of $14.3 million and $30.6 million globally. The filmmakers and Disney are hopeful the pic will have staying power because of its subject matter, originality and solid audience scores.
In addition to Back to the Future and perennial Halloween favorite Rocky Picture Horror Show, other rereleases included screenings of all five Twilight movies timed to the 20th anniversary of Stephenie Meyer’s seminal first novel in the romance-vampire series. Fathom and Lionsgate partnered in bringing the movie adaptation of the books back to the big screen for five days, beginning Oct. 29 and concluding Nov. 2. Roughly 1,500 theaters participated and played a different film each night. Ticket sales through Sunday were an estimated $3.5 million, including $1.5 million for the Oct. 29 showing of the first film. (Because of the way it rolled out, the rerelease did not make the weekend top 10 chart).
Paul Thomas Anderson‘s awards frontrunner and Leonardo DiCaprio starrer One Battle After Another, however, did remain in the top 10 chart in North America in its sixth outing, earning $1.2 million from 954 theaters for a domestic total of $67.8 million. And defying the naysayers, it is approaching the $200 million mark globally after finishing Sunday with a foreign share of $123 million. It is far and away the filmmaker’s top-grossing film; his previous best was 2007’s There Will Be Blood ($77.2 million), unadjusted. And 2024’s Licorice Pizza, topped out at $37 million, which was considered a success for an indie title. (Granted, One Battle sports a far bigger budget but nevertheless is hanging in there, unlike a number of awards players.)
Elsewhere, another special event pic trying to fill the gap mentioned by Dergarabedian was Depeche Mode: M, a concert pic from Sony Music Vision and Trafalgar that grossed $1.1 million domestically and $4.7 million overseas for a total of $5.7 million from more than 2,600 cinemas across 70 countries after opening midweek (Imax screens ponied up 29 percent of all ticket sales). Conceived and directed by Mexican filmmaker Fernando Frías, the concert pic celebrates the band’s global influence while also delving into the profound connection between death, music, mortality and Mexican tradition the band captured during their 2023 Memento Mori tour.
Nov. 2, 12 p.m.: Updated with revised estimates.
Nov. 2, 4:15 p.m.: Updated with additional foreign estimates.
Nov. 3, 3:15 p.m.: Updated with Monday actuals for Regretting You and Black Phone 2.
This story was originally published Nov. 2 at 10:49 a.m.
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