Blumhouse has snapped out of its slump with “Black Phone 2,” but the overall box office has not as the expected October slowdown continues this weekend.
Released by Universal at 3,411 locations, “Black Phone 2” has earned a solid $26.5 million domestic/$42 million global opening this weekend. That tops the $23.6 million opening of the first “Black Phone” in summer 2022 and is more than double the opening weekend of any Blumhouse release since the start of 2024.
As is usually the case for a successful horror film, the 18-35 demographic has been driving turnout with 63% of the opening weekend audience share. Reception has not been quite as strong as the first “Black Phone” but is still positive with a B on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 74% critics and 85% audience.
With Halloween coming up and no major horror competition ahead, “Black Phone 2” is set to be Blumhouse’s first film to gross more than $100 million worldwide since “Five Nights at Freddy’s” in October 2023. That film will also have a sequel coming out in December, giving the studio a solid end to the year after films like “Wolf Man” and “M3GAN 2.0” fell flat with moviegoers.
Beyond “Black Phone 2,” there’s not a lot of good news to be found on the charts this weekend. Disney’s “Tron: Ares” is sinking fast in its second weekend in theaters, falling 66% from its $33 million opening for $11.1 million in this frame.
The sci-fi film starring Jared Leto now has a two-weekend total of $54.6 million domestic and $103 million worldwide against a reported $180 million production spend. For comparison, Disney’s spring bomb “Snow White” had a 10-day domestic total of just under $67 million, going on to gross $87 million domestic and $205 million worldwide.
In third is the Lionsgate comedy “Good Fortune,” which is opening to a muted $6.2 million from 2,990 locations. Written, directed and starring Aziz Ansari, the comedy was a co-production made on a $30 million budget funded in part by Lionsgate’s slate deal with Media Capital Technologies.
Particular praise has been given to Keanu Reeves for his performance in “Good Fortune” as the “budget guardian angel” Gabriel, as the film has received a 78% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a B+ on CinemaScore. But with such a low start, it will be difficult for “Good Fortune” to build off of its solid word-of-mouth and gain substantial legs.
Warner Bros.’ “One Battle After Another” is fourth with $4 million in its fourth weekend as the acclaimed Paul Thomas Anderson film is straining to reach $200 million worldwide, currently standing at $61.9 million domestic and $162.5 million global.
Paramount/Miramax’s “Roofman” completes the top 5 with $3.7 million, dropping 54% in its second weekend as it now stands with a domestic total of $15.4 million against a $19 million budget.
