Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, the Cannes best screenplay and TIFF People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award winner that has propelled Demi Moore into the awards conversion, opened in sixth place at the North American box office over the weekend.
Released through Mubi, the body horror about an ageing actress whose regenerative treatment goes awry opened in 1,949 locations on an estimated $3.1m.
The Substance also stars Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid. Mubi said the film over-indexed in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, Portland, Denver, and Boston.
Warner Bros’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was a surprise number one and narrowly stayed top in its third session as $26m from 4,172 sites pushed the running total to an excellent $226.8m.
Paramount’s Transformers One was expected to dethrone Tim Burton’s comedy horror but, despite strong reviews, the animation featuring Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry and Scarlett Johansson debuted at number two on an estimated $25m from 3,978 sites.
That said, the studio’s executives are hopeful strong word of mouth will ensure the latest entry in the Transformers canon holds well in the coming weeks and fulfils its potential as an awards season prospect.
Placing third was Universal/Blumhouse’s psychological thriller Speak No Evil, the remake of the Danish 2022 film of the same name about a family visiting friends who realise their hosts are not what they thought. James McAvoy stars in the new film, which earned $5.9m for a $21.5m cumulative tally.
Halle Berry survival thriller Never Let Me Go arrived in fourth place through Lionsgate on a lacklustre $4.5m from 4,667 sites. Disney/Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine placed fifth on $3.9m from 2,450 for $627.3m after nine weekends.
A24 opened Aaron Schimberg’s Sundance dark comedy A Different Man starring Sebastian Stan as a man with facial disfigurement who undergoes a miraculous treatment only to discover it was not the answer to his problems.
The limited release earned $56,126 from four screens and will expand next weekend. Adam Pearson and Renate Reinsve also star.
As of September 20 North American box office year to date trailed 2023 by 12.8%.
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