Black Adam from DC Entertainment, New Line and Warner Bros dominated an encouraging North American session as tentpoles returned, while Searchlight Pictures’ The Banshees Of Inisherin stood out in a feisty weekend for arthouse cinema with an impressive limited debut.
Dwayne Johnson scored the highest solo debut (excluding the Fast franchise) of his career as Black Adam arrived at number one on an estimated $67m in 4,402 locations. Friday delivered $26.7m heading into Saturday after an 11% dip for $23.7m, and Sunday following a further 30% drop for $16.6m. The top three markets were Los Angeles, New York, and Dallas.
This was a solid debut given the film had been expected to open in the $60m range. Warner Bros executives will feel positive about the start and even though it is well known that superhero fanbases come out en masse in opening weekends, Johnson’s supporters tend to bring strong repeat views. Imax screens generated $6.3m of the North American gross.
Universal’s Ticket To Paradise starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts arrived in second place on an estimated $16.3m in 3,543 sites, coming in above expectations to deliver a win for older-skewing fare at a time when the industry has been unsure whether the romantic comedy genre could entice viewers into cinemas.
There are no such concerns for horror and Paramount’s Smile ranks third and added $8.4m after a 33.5% drop for an $84.3m running total. After four weekends in release has the $100m milestone in its sights to continue an excellent year for the studio.
Last weekend’s champion Halloween Ends from Universal dropped a heavy 80% and three places in its second weekend to rank fourth on $54.2m. Sony’s family release Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile rounds out the top five on $4.2m after a 42.9% slide in the third session to settle on $28.7m. In another promising sign, overall box office generated more than $100m for the first time since July.
Martin McDonagh’s Venice world premiere The Banshees Of Inisherin from Searchlight Pictures opened at number 18 on an estimated $181,000. The droll tale of a friendship break-up starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson scored a per-theatre average of $45,250 over three days, the second highest of the year to date, beating the recent debut by Focus Features’ TAR to rank behind only A24’s breakout hit Everything Everywhere All At Once.
The film released in four venues including at The Grove and Century City in Los Angeles, and the Angelika and AMC Lincoln Square in New York. Writer-director McDonagh participated in post-screening Q&A’s on Friday and Saturday, which were sold out at both Los Angeles locations. Promotional activities have included a Saturday Night Live hosting spot for Gleeson, with the veteran actor also appearing alongside Farrell on talk shows.
This week Banshees will expand by approximately 50 sites and open in the additional 12 markets of Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. November 4 brings a further expansion into 600-800 locations.
There was plenty to celebrate in the arthouse space. Neon’s Palme d’Or winner Triangle Of Sadness from Ruben Ostlund broke into the top ten in its third session. The satire expanded from 31 to 280 venues and climbed four slots to number 10 on $600,000 for a $1.4m running total.
TAR climbed three places to number 12 in its third weekend and expanded from 36 to 141 sites, adding $470,000 for a $1.2m running total. Meanwhile Park Chan-wook’s Cannes noir selection Decision To Leave vaulted nine slots to number 14 in its second weekend through MUBI after expanding from three to 48 sites and grossing $296,436 for $437,116.
A24 debuted Charlotte Wells’ directorial debut Aftersun at number 21 on $66,355 from four sites. Paul Mescal and newcomer Frankie Corio star in the father-daughter drama that premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week.
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