PARAMOUNT’S new horror film Smile 2 has surpassed its successful predecessor, taking in an estimated US$23 million in North American theatres this weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Sunday.
“This is an excellent opening for the second episode in a horror series,” said analyst David A. Gross, who noted that horror sequels tend to earn a fourth less than the originals.
The first Smile, also directed by horror-master Parker Finn, made US$22.6 million when it opened in 2022 and ultimately grossed US$217 million worldwide.
Smile 2 again tells the story of a grim curse, passed from one victim to the next, that afflicts a troubled pop star (Naomi Scott).
Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot, about a dispassionate mechanical being, stranded on an island, having to cope with (and care for) fuzzy woodland creatures, placed second again with US$10.1 million, part of what Gross said has become a welcome industry trend.
“With Inside Out 2 breaking records and Despicable Me 4 finishing sensationally well, 2024 has gone from a good year for family films to an outstanding year,” Gross said. “Family moviegoing has come all the way back after the pandemic and is in very good health now.”
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Horror film Terrifier 3, from indie studio Cineverse and Icon Events, earned US$9.3 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period. David Howard Thornton again plays the psychopathic Art the Clown.
In fourth place again, and enjoying a nice run in its seventh weekend out, was Warner Bros’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, at US$5 million. Michael Keaton again plays the creepily hilarious title character.
Fifth place went to We Live in Time, a weepy romantic drama from StudioCanal, at US$4.2 million. Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh star in what Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian called a “breakout indie hit” with “a hugely appealing cast (and) a funny, moving and romantic plot.”
Rounding out the top 10 were:
Joker: Folie a Deux (US$2.2 million)
Piece by Piece (US$2.1 million)
Transformers One (US$2 million)
Saturday Night (US$1.8 million)
Nightmare Before Christmas (reissue) (US$1.1 million). AFP
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Publish date : 2024-10-20 11:43:00
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