FRIDAY PM: Mom is bringing home the bacon. Other Mommy is on track for a $27.5 million opening weekend on 3,365 screens to top the domestic box office. This despite some scathing reviews for the Universal Pictures release by Rob Savage from producer James Wan and Blumhouse Atomic Monster. Jessica Chastain stars in dual roles as real mom and mom creature.
Horror films are a good bet Halloween month and this one topped expectations for Thursday previews of $3.6 million leading into a solid weekend. Friday is at $12.3 million. The number is solid especially given a $19 million budget.
Good comps are Universal’s The Black Phone 1 and 2 with, respectively, $23.6M and $27.3M opening weekends after $3 million and $2.6 million in Thursday previews. U’s The Exorcist: Believer debuted to $26.5M after $2.85 in previews.
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The Social Reckoning from Sony Pictures is indeed struggling at no. 5 after soft previews ($650k) with Friday at $2.3M and the three-day weekend $6M at 2,606 locations. That’s on the lower end of initial projections of about $7M.
The comp was Digger last week, the costly Warner Bros. debacle that opened to $8 million, after $1.2 million in previews. The Aaron Sorkin film (after incentives) cost $30M, significantly less than the Tom Cruise-starring climate change romp, and was 50% financed by Alcon. Reviews were not good here either but matter more as the Facebook-Mark Zuckerberg takedown aims for a more picky crowd than the one turning out for a stretchy mommy.
Backing up, no. 2 for the weekend is Amazon MGM’s Verity in week 2 on 3,572 screens with $3.7 million Friday, a $13.3M weekend and a cume of $55.6 million total for the romantic thriller from the Colleen Hoover novel.
Sony’s Resident Evil is third in week 4 on 3,085 screens with a Friday around $7M for an estimated cume of $137M.
Paramount’s survival thriller Heart Of The Beast is in fourth place in week 3 at 3,365 theaters with an anticipated Friday take of $6.2M for a $49M cume.
A24’s Primetime, Digger and Angel And The Bad Man from Angel Studios round out the top ten.
FRIDAY AM: Universal Pictures release Other Mommy saw a strong $3.6M from previews beginning at 2 p.m. Thursday from 2,850 theaters and opens today on 3,365 screens. The Social Reckoning is reckoning with $650k.
Other Mommy, the Jessica Chastain-toplined horror by Rob Savage from producer James Wan and Blumhouse Atomic Monster sees a young girl (Arabella Olivia Clark) form a relationship with a sinister entity in her home who looks uncannily like her own mother. Oscar winner Chastain and It: Chapter Two star plays dual roles as the real and the other mother.
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The previews were strong for a Blumhouse movie of this size, though early reviews are very far from kind. Horror has been a safe bet in the run-up to Halloween, and while the market is crowded, there are no new tentpoles. The R-rated Other Mommy was eyeing an opening in the mid-$20 million range. We’ll see how the reviews and audience reaction impact the weekend.
Jessica Chastain in ‘Other Mommy’
Universal Pictures/Everett Collection
Sony’s The Social Reckoning from Columbia Pictures and Alcon Entertainment took in a soft $650K for Thursday previews starting at 4 p.m. at 2,368 locations. Aaron Sorkin’s follow-up to 2010’s The Social Network is at 59% fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Inspired by true events, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) enlists the help of Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) to expose the nefarious doings of the social media giant. Jeremy Strong stepped in as Mark Zuckerberg, who was played by Jesse Eisenberg in Social Network.
The comp for this was Digger, which posted previews of $1.2M last week. The Social Network production cost (after incentives) came in at $30M is significantly cheaper than the Warner. Bros pic, and it is 50% financed by Alcon. Projections are for an opening weekend in the mid-single digit millions.
How the week’s top 5 went:
1. Verity (Amazon MGM) 3,510 theaters, Wk $42.4M
2. Resident Evil (Sony) 3,256 theaters, Wk $17.8M, Total $130.2M/Wk3
3. Heart of the Beast (Paramount) 3,481, Wk $15.1M, Total $42.5M, Wk 2
4. Primetime (A24) 2,894, Wk $10.8M, Total $38.8M, Wk 2
5. Digger (Warner Bros.) 3,321, Wk $11.2M