There was something to ‘Smile’ about at this weekend’s box office

Broadway box office held steady at $28,621,480 last week as a slate of new productions began or continued previews (Almost Famous and Kimberly Akimbo filled more than 90% of their seats), MJ and Leopoldstadt set house records and The Phantom of the Opera was once again standing room only as the long-running Andrew Lloyd Webber musical heads toward its Feb. 18 closing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Homecoming, a patriotic rescue movie, dominated the mainland China box office for the third successive weekend. Overall numbers remained anemic in the first full week after the National Day holiday period, sometimes referred to as a ‘Golden Week’. “Homecoming” garnered $12.1 million (RMB85.6 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy and research firm Artisan Gateway. That gave the film a 64% share of the nationwide weekend aggregate. Accordingly, it was far ahead of second-placed film “Give Me Five,” which released on Sept. 9, 2022. “Give Me Five” earned just $1.9 million over the weekend, for a six-week cumulative of $63.8 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief While the Busan International Film Festival was busily hailing a return to normality the slump at South Korea’s commercial box office deepened dramatically over the most recent weekend. Cinemagoing nationwide was worth only $4.20 million between Friday and Sunday, the lowest weekend total since April and a time before Korean cinemas shed their COVID restrictions. The weekend’s top film “Life Is Beautiful” managed the lowest first place score of any film this year, with a weekend haul of just $777,000, according to data from Kobiz, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

“Till,” directed by “Clemency” filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu, was released in five cities this weekend and grossed $240,940, bringing its per theater average to $15,059 as it will expand to 150-200 theaters in 30 cities next weekend. With critical acclaim on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100% approval rating and a 92% positive rating on Comscore/Screen Engine’s Posttrak, “Till” has built Oscar buzz for lead actress Danielle Deadwyler for her performance as Mamie Till-Mobley, who spent years fighting for justice after the racist lynching of her 14-year-old son, Emmett.

The Halloween Ends numbers are coming in, and the studio might not be so pleased.

“Halloween Ends” is only just beginning.The slasher film cut its way to first place at the box office on Friday, earning more than $20 million in theaters.The sequel to last year’s “Halloween Kills” is predicted to take in $43.4 million on its opening weekend, according to Variety.“Smile” was bumped from the top spot this week, moving down a notch to second, after spending two weeks at number one.The flick surpassed earnings of $100 million at the global box office in less than two weeks, as per Collider.The live-action/CGI musical comedy “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” swam down to third place, clawing in $2 million. The movie adaption of the popular children’s book series enjoyed a $11.5 million domestic debut on its opening weekend, according to Deadline.“The Woman King” held up her crown, remaining in fourth, with a $1 million-dollar take.

$49.4 million last year and finished with a $92 million domestic total, and pre-release projections for “Ends” have it matching that opening mark with a $50 million opening. By contrast, the first installment in this “Halloween” revival in 2018 opened to $76 million on the way to a $159 million domestic total and $255 million worldwide, buoyed before its release by strong reviews from critics praising Jamie Lee Curtis’ return to her debut role, Laurie Strode, that expanded interest beyond the series’ most devoted fans. “Kills,” on the other hand, got much poorer reviews, with critics slamming the sequel for sidelining Laurie in the hospital instead of having her take the murderous Michael Myers head-on like she did in the first film.

The Primetime Emmy and SAG winning actress is in advance talks to join Warner Bros mob drama Wise Guys in the role of Bobbie, the faithful wife of Robert De Niro kingpin Frank Costello, Deadline has learned.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Laurie Strode is going out with a bang. “Halloween Ends,” the supposed finale to Universal’s long-running slasher series (are we ever going to be able to quit Michael Myers?) is targeting a healthy $50 million to $55 million in its opening weekend even with its hybrid release on Peacock. If those estimates hold, it’ll be the first movie since “Thor: Love and Thunder” in July to open to at least $50 million. “Halloween Ends” is the rare day-and-date release with a proper point of comparison since its predecessor also launched on streaming during the pandemic. “Halloween Kills” opened to $49 million last October while landing simultaneously on the NBCUniversal-owned Peacock — a bloody-good result given the COVID-era limitations in 2021. “Halloween Ends,” which is playing in 3,800 North American theaters, has the added benefit of monopolizing the entire Imax and premium large format footprint.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Comedy action film “Confidential Assignment 2: International” claimed its fifth successive weekend victory at the South Korean box office as only U.S. horror film “Smile” was able to break into the top five.The CJ Entertainment-distributed “Confidential Assignment 2” managed $1.64 million over the Friday to Sunday period, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). That represented a 27% share of the market. “Confidential Assignment 2” recorded a 27% weekend on weekend decline. That pushed its cumulative total to $47 million, earned form $6.52 million ticket sales since release on Set. 7, 2022.

Universal/Working Title’s Ticket to Paradise, the latest big-screen collaboration for Julia Roberts and George Clooney, has led the duo to a new milestone. Five films in which the mega-stars worked together have now grossed a combined $1B at the global box office. 

“Smile” has become the latest original horror film, joining Universal/Blumhouse’s “The Black Phone” and 20th Century’s “Barbarian” to find low budget success thanks to strong word-of-mouth among horror fans. Against a production budget of $17 million, “Smile” now has a 10-day domestic total of $50 million, creating an intriguing match-up next weekend as the theatrically exclusive film goes up against a franchise horror film, Universal/Blumhouse’s “Halloween Ends,” which has a much higher profile but will also be released day-and-date on Peacock this Friday.

Don’t underestimate the second weekend of Paramount’s horror movie Smile. The Parker Finn directed and written title, which has provided many in town that horror remains a bankable genre for the big screen after a $22.6M opening, has a shot of possibly upsetting Sony’s family movie Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile and 20th Century Studios/New Regency/Disney’s upscale David O. Russell comedy Amsterdam for No. 1 with around an $11M+ take.

Bros, touted as the first mainstream Hollywood studio-backed gay rom-com, has opened to a less than enthusiastic response at the US Box office.Variety reported that Bros debuted at number four and had grossed $4.8 million in its opening weekend – half the collections projected by the studio. Universal had expected a $8 to $10 million opening for the Judd Apatow-produced film directed by Nicholas Stoller and starring Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane.Before the movie was released, homophobes had review bombed the movie with low ratings.

It was a varied offering at the international box office this weekend with newcomers from Hollywood and offshore markets, as well as notable holds, as we inch closer to full-on action later in October. 

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Hold onto your bucket hats: Sony’s action-thriller “Bullet Train” crossed $100 million at the domestic box office. It’s an impressive milestone (in post-COVID times) for an original movie that doesn’t involve marquee comic book heroes or intergalactic adventures. It helps, of course, that a bankable actor like Brad Pitt stars in the film, as a heavily therapized assassin named Ladybug. “Bullet Train” reached $101 million in domestic ticket sales on Friday, making it only the 14th release this year to hit that benchmark. With another $130 million at the international box office, the film has now earned $231 million in global ticket sales to date.

SATURDAY AM:Paramount and other studios are calling Smile at a $19M opening. In a deja vu to last weekend with New Line’s Don’t Worry Darling, another genre pic, this R-rated horror film has received a B- CinemaScore and a severe 69%/53% definite recommend on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak; a standard audience reaction for such fare. We see one studio calling Smile at $20M, and frankly with this audience score, and the front-loaded nature of horror films, only tonight will determine if this goes up. Last weekend, everyone got excited about the initial numbers they were seeing for Don’t Worry Darling, got over their skis and called the weekend at $20M on Saturday AM before it eased to $19.3M by Monday. Smile‘s Friday is $8.2M, which includes Thursday’s $2M previews.

Celebrities trading in honour of those killed in 9/11 was a “positive idea” born from a “truly traumatic day”, the chief executive of BGC has said. A host of famous faces including Damian Lewis, Holly Willoughby and Davina McCall returned to the annual event at brokerage firm BGC Partners on Thursday to raise money in memory of the 658 BGC employees and 61 Eurobrokers employees who died during the attacks in 2001. Chief executive Sean Windeatt recalled working in the London office on the day the tragedy unfolded.