Paramount Pictures and Temple Hill’s Smile 2 scored an estimated $23m bow to lead the North American box office in a weekend that saw a good hold by Terrifier 3, while Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anora scored the highest per-screen average of 2024 so far.
Smile 2 writer-director Parker Finn recorded his second number one debut for his horror franchise after the original opened top in 2022 on $22.6m, which will have pleased Paramount executives, who said on average horror sequels open 26% behind the original.
Naomi Scott stars as a global pop icon who confronts her past after she is beset by terrifying events triggered by the evil entity that spreads a sickening leer over the faces of its hosts. The original Smile went on to earn $105.9m and the sequel has a chance to cross the $100m milestone if it can hold well in the weekend ahead. The “B” CinemaScore, compared to “B-” for the original, bodes well.
The studio said audience reactions and demos were nearly identical to those of Smile. The film, which reportedly cost in the range of $28m and opened in 3,619 locations, delivered a 52% male lean, with the 18-34 bracket accounting for 40% of filmgoers. By ethnicity, Caucasians represented 40%, followed by the Hispanic audience on 34%. Canada accounted for an approximate 9.6% market share.
Sean Baker’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner and heavyweight awards prospect Anora launched through Neon on six screens, earning $540,000 for a $90,000 per-screen average – the best of the year to date, and the second best since the pandemic behind Asteroid City.
Mikey Madison stars in the highly regarded film as a sex worker from Brooklyn who falls for the son of a Russian oligarch and embarks on a whirlwind adventure as the young man’s outraged parents fly over from Russia to annul the marriage. The film also stars Yura Borisov, Mark Eidelshtein, and Karren Karagulian.
DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot in second place crossed $100m in its fourth weekend after adding $10.1m from 3,829 locations through Universal for $101.7m. The film continues to delivered solid theatrical numbers despite being available on streaming platforms since October 15.
Quality horror with original premises are in demand as evidenced not only by Smile 2 and independent smash Longlegs earlier in the year but the ongoing adventures of last weekend’s champion and independent success story Terrifier 3, which ranks third after two weekends.
Damien Leones’s $2m slasher film added $9.3m from 2,762 screens through Cineverse to boost the running total to $36.2m. Cineverse is understood to have spent in the region of $500,000 to market the film, leveraging its core support through social channels. Terrifier 3 has generated an exceptional return that will be the envy of any studio.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice placed fourth on $5m for $283.9m after seven sessions and has been a hit for Warner Bros. The story is very different with Warner Bros’ $200m Joker: Folie à Deux in sixth place, which added $2.2m in its third session to reach a paltry $56.4m.
John Crowley’s romance and Toronto world premiere We Live in Time starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh rounded out the top five after expanding from five to 985 screens and grossing $4.2m for $4.5m after two sessions. The film vaulted 13 places up the charts and will expand wide this week.
In its second session Piece By Piece, Morgan Neville’s animated documentary for Focus Features about the life of Pharrell Williams, fell a modest 45% in its second session. It earned $2.1m from 1,873 theatres to push the running total to $7.6m after two sessions and placed sixth.
In its fifth weekend, Mubi’s Cannes hit The Substance starring Demi Moore and directed by Coralie Fargeat used an $878,611 haul from 548 screens to reach $13.4m. Columbia Pictures’ Saturday Night from Jason Reitman earned $1.8m for the weekend as the early running total climbed to $7.6m after four weekends.
Bleecker Street opened the idiosyncratic Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin’s Cannes world premiere Rumours at number 18 on 630 screens and it earned $314,082. Cate Blanchett and Charles Dance star in the satirical comedy about a group of hapless world leaders at a G7 summit trying to deal with an unfolding crisis.
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