Blumhouse’s horror sequel “Black Phone 2” earned $10.7 million in Friday screenings and previews, aiming for the number one opening. Aziz Ansari’s comedy “Good Fortune”, on the other hand, doesn’t have much luck debuting in third place as October box office sales slump towards the end of the month.
Universal is opening “Black Phone 2” in 3,411 locations across North America over the weekend, with a projected three-day gross of $24.4 million. That’s within tracking estimates before the weekend and slightly ahead of the original Black Phone, which opened in 2022 with $23.6 million. The sequel, which will see Ethan Hawke return as the serial killer known as Glover, has also benefited significantly by acquiring some premium large-format seats from Tron: Ares, which have higher ticket prices.
Blumhouse is hoping to recover at the box office towards the end of the year after releasing the disappointing 2025 films The Wolfman, The Woman in the Yard, The Drop and M3GAN 2.0, all of which had decent prices but ultimately failed to make it to theaters. The R-rated “Black Phone 2” will easily have the biggest opening on Blumhouse’s calendar, but the Scott Derrickson-directed sequel is also one of the more expensive films to make, costing $30 million.
After this start, “Black Phone 2” will have to show staying power to become a success in theaters. Critics and audiences alike have been positive, but the response has been a little less positive than the first film’s. Audience research firm CinemaScore voted a “B” grade among ticket buyers, one notch lower than the “B+” grade of the 2022 original. The first, “Black Phone,” was a sleeper hit, grossing nearly 4x and $90 million domestically in its debut. “Black Phone 2” is aiming for a similarly long tail, and will be positioned as a top horror feature throughout the rest of the Halloween season. As for Blumhouse, the banner still features one more sequel, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, which will be released by Universal in December.
Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s “Good Fortune” release is coming in below expectations, projecting a $5.9 million opening at 2,985 stores. Aziz Ansari’s feature film, written, directed and starring the comedian, grossed just $2.4 million in Friday screenings and previews.
Despite a star-studded cast including Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Sandra Oh, and KeKi Palmer, as well as solid reviews and positive buzz among audiences (earning a CinemaScore “B+” grade), it was a quiet start for the $30 million production. This speaks to the difficulty of releasing an original R-rated comedy in the current theatrical environment, even though Sony’s “One of Them Days” ($50 million domestic) had a feel-good story to start the year.
In second place is Disney’s “Tron: Ares,” which earned $3 million on Friday, but the second film is expected to make $11 million, a 65% decline. The North American total is expected to reach $54 million in the first 10 days. After a disappointing domestic debut and meager attendance overseas, the sci-fi sequel has faded so quickly that there’s no hope of recouping its $180 million production cost in theaters.
The battle for fourth place was fierce, and Warner Bros. won. Awards favorite “One Battle After Another” earned another $1.1 million on Friday, down 45% from last week’s single-day total, but for now, there’s hope for what’s to come. Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio’s ultra-modern blockbuster has been a strong box office success week after week, but has only made $59 million in its first 22 days in North America. With a production budget of over $130 million, it is estimated that theaters will lose approximately $100 million.
Paramount’s “Roofman” earned $1.1 million in its second Friday, dropping to fifth place. Channing Tatum is looking at a second-year fee of $3.6 million, which would be a 55% drop from the start. Domestic box office grosses are expected to reach $15.4 million by Sunday, slow growth despite the film’s small production budget of $19 million.
Angel Studios will also open this weekend, screening the World War II thriller “Truth and Treason” across 2,106 venues. The PG-13-rated drama earned $1.1 million on Friday and is on track to earn $2.8 million in its opening weekend and rank at No. 6 on the domestic charts. It received a stellar “A” CinemaScore grade, a similar score for an Angel film.
Meanwhile, Amazon MGM is expanding its R-rated campus drama “After the Hunt” to 1,238 locations after opening in New York and Los Angeles last weekend. The film earned about $650,000 on Friday and is headed for No. 7. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, “After the Hunt” features a notable cast including Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri, and Amazon had a presence at CinemaCon in April. However, the film appears to have been held back by negative reviews at its Venice Film Festival premiere in August. Audiences did not like it at all, giving it a “C-” rating on CinemaScore.
