‘Black Adam’ To Dominate 2nd Weekend, ‘Ticket To Paradise’ Faces Off Against Newcomer ‘Prey For The Devil’ For Runner-Up
After the box office lifted up past $100 million last weekend for the first time since July, propelled by the latest superhero saga Black Adam, it is set to fall back down below the nine-digit line once again this weekend with no major titles opening to keep it afloat. It should still be a “good” weekend relative to the dry spell from mid-August through mid-October which saw seven straight weekends below $65 million, but the numbers may stoop that low again next weekend. Thankfully,Black Panther: Wakanda Forever comes the weekend after and will boast some of the biggest, if not the biggest, opening numbers of the year, but the rocky up-and-down box office of the post-Covid era continues to persist.
The weekend’s biggest release is Lionsgate’s Prey for the Devil, the latest in a busy season of horror films leading up to Halloween which falls on Monday. The film is about a nun who trains to become the first female exorcist, only to face a demonic force that she has a history with. Director Daniel Stamm is no stranger to this material, having previously made the 2010 film The Last Exorcism which opened to $20.4 million and finished with $41 million domestic and $69.4 million worldwide off a tiny $1.8 million budget. Prey for the Devil will be lucky to break out of the single digits in its opening, and the fact that a cloak is being kept on the reviews suggests we aren’t in for another Barbarian or Smile, which both have nearly quadrupled their openings with the help of strong word of mouth and reviews (and the indie Terrifier 2 even sextupled its opening). It could still do well given what is said to be a low budget, though, and perhaps the momentum from other horror titles will carry over to the scare season’s final offering.
Despite being the only fully wide newcomer, Prey for the Devil seems likely to come in third place. Set to reclaim the number one spot is Black Adam, which could be the only title above $10 million this weekend. The big budget DC film got off to a nice start last weekend with $67 million, and a 54% drop a la Shazam! would put it between $30-31 million. The Dwayne Johnson starring film may prove to be more frontloaded, but given the decent word of mouth (B+ CinemaScore) and solid weekday numbers, there’s no reason to expect a massive plunge. Considering the best weekend gross any film saw in August and September was Bullet Train’s $30 million opening, it sure is nice to have a big movie back on the charts doing similar numbers in its second weekend, even if the overall box office numbers still leave something to be desired.
Second place is harder to call, but the odds are good that it goes to Ticket to Paradise. The rom-com starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts opened to $16.5 million, and with its positive word of mouth (A- CinemaScore) it could see a strong hold that keeps it in the double digits. Even if it doesn’t, it may keep the second place slot. Ticket to Paradise crossed $100 million worldwide during the week, having accumulated $81.8 million abroad since it began its rollout in September. Strong domestic legs would be great, but it isn’t necessary for the film’s success at this point.
In the specialty box office, Focus Features’ Todd Field directed Tár expands to around 1,000 theaters in its fourth weekend. The Cate Blanchett starring Oscar hopeful has grossed $1.34 million from a maximum of 141 theaters so far. It’s not clear how much expansion potential it has and there aren’t good comps from the past few years, but it should at least make the top ten this weekend and it could play steadily through the awards season.
Also noteworthy in the arthouse segment (and also hailing from Focus Features) is the six-theater NY-LA launch of Armageddon Time. James Gray directs this semi-autobiographical, 1980s Queens set coming of age film which stars Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb, and Anthony Hopkins. Armageddon Time played in competition at Cannes and is at 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, with awards buzz brewing for it.
The weekend’s biggest release is Lionsgate’s Prey for the Devil, the latest in a busy season of horror films leading up to Halloween which falls on Monday. The film is about a nun who trains to become the first female exorcist, only to face a demonic force that she has a history with. Director Daniel Stamm is no stranger to this material, having previously made the 2010 film The Last Exorcism which opened to $20.4 million and finished with $41 million domestic and $69.4 million worldwide off a tiny $1.8 million budget. Prey for the Devil will be lucky to break out of the single digits in its opening, and the fact that a cloak is being kept on the reviews suggests we aren’t in for another Barbarian or Smile, which both have nearly quadrupled their openings with the help of strong word of mouth and reviews (and the indie Terrifier 2 even sextupled its opening). It could still do well given what is said to be a low budget, though, and perhaps the momentum from other horror titles will carry over to the scare season’s final offering.
Despite being the only fully wide newcomer, Prey for the Devil seems likely to come in third place. Set to reclaim the number one spot is Black Adam, which could be the only title above $10 million this weekend. The big budget DC film got off to a nice start last weekend with $67 million, and a 54% drop a la Shazam! would put it between $30-31 million. The Dwayne Johnson starring film may prove to be more frontloaded, but given the decent word of mouth (B+ CinemaScore) and solid weekday numbers, there’s no reason to expect a massive plunge. Considering the best weekend gross any film saw in August and September was Bullet Train’s $30 million opening, it sure is nice to have a big movie back on the charts doing similar numbers in its second weekend, even if the overall box office numbers still leave something to be desired.
Second place is harder to call, but the odds are good that it goes to Ticket to Paradise. The rom-com starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts opened to $16.5 million, and with its positive word of mouth (A- CinemaScore) it could see a strong hold that keeps it in the double digits. Even if it doesn’t, it may keep the second place slot. Ticket to Paradise crossed $100 million worldwide during the week, having accumulated $81.8 million abroad since it began its rollout in September. Strong domestic legs would be great, but it isn’t necessary for the film’s success at this point.
In the specialty box office, Focus Features’ Todd Field directed Tár expands to around 1,000 theaters in its fourth weekend. The Cate Blanchett starring Oscar hopeful has grossed $1.34 million from a maximum of 141 theaters so far. It’s not clear how much expansion potential it has and there aren’t good comps from the past few years, but it should at least make the top ten this weekend and it could play steadily through the awards season.
Also noteworthy in the arthouse segment (and also hailing from Focus Features) is the six-theater NY-LA launch of Armageddon Time. James Gray directs this semi-autobiographical, 1980s Queens set coming of age film which stars Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb, and Anthony Hopkins. Armageddon Time played in competition at Cannes and is at 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, with awards buzz brewing for it.
