‘Ticket To Paradise’ Nabs Solid $6.4 Million Friday, ‘Halloween Ends’ Plunges 88%

In even better news for the overall theatrical industry, Universal’s Ticket to Paradise opened with a rousing $6.4 million on Friday. The last of Universal’s four live-action comedies offered up this year, after Marry Me, Easter Sunday and Bros, showed that the sub-genre (even without music, action or fantasy) isn’t quite dead yet. With mixed-negative reviews (I liked it a lot, and your parents will too) and an A- from Cinemascore, we can expect an over/under $16.5 million domestic launch. Ol Parker’s $60 million rom-com, about two bitterly divorced parents (George Clooney and Julia Roberts) who team up to sabotage their daughter’s wedding, should be leggy as hell. Oscar season expansions aside, there’s nothing for adults who don’t like superheroes or horror films until Thanksgiving weekend. It has already earned $73 million overseas following a month-long international rollout.

In Oscar rollout news, Martin McDonagh’s terrific The Banshees of Inisherin debuted in four theaters yesterday, earning $67,000 for a likely $161,000 weekend. That will give Searchlight’s dark Brendan Gleeson/Colin Farrell/Kerry Condon/Barry Keoghan dramedy a promising $40,348 per-theater average. United Artists’ Till expanded to 104 theaters in advance of its nationwide rollout next weekend. The acclaimed true-life drama, for which Danielle Deadwyler is earning serious Oscar buzz, earned $120,000 on Friday for a likely $351,000 weekend (+45%) and $3,377 per-theater average. Cate Blanchett’s TÁR will also go wide next weekend. It expanded to 141 theaters and should gross $510,000 over the weekend for a $3,617 per-theater average and $1.215 million 17-day cume. We’ll see how many of this year’s critically acclaimed Oscar contenders are able to outgross Terrifier 2 ($5.7 million and rising rather than falling).

Universal and Blumhouse’s Halloween Ends took a near-record 89% drop on its second Friday, earning just $2.74 million for a likely $8 million (-80%) weekend and $54.177 million ten-day total. The poor review, divisive word-of-mouth and concurrent Peacock availability killed this one quick. I’m old enough to remember when the biggest Halloween movies earned $47 million (Halloween in 1978), $55 million (Halloween: H20 in 1998) and $58 million (Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake in 2007) in total. Paramount’sPARA
Smile remains the scary movie of the scary season, earning $2.57 million (-32%) while adding 142 theaters in weekend four. We can expect an $8.5 million (-32%) weekend and $84.5 million 24-day total, putting it above the $81 million cume of Scream. It’ll pass Halloween Kills ($92 million) next weekend as it races past the $100 million milestone.

Bloody Disgusting’s Terrifier 2 got oodles of mainstream media attention this week, as reports of audiences fainting or vomiting led to petitions to get the film banned. Those petitions are no more serious than the idiots advocating for a remake of Halloween Ends or the schmucks who tried to raise $200 million to remake The Last Jedi. It’s nice to see that an old-school video nasty-type flick can still get the torches and pitchforks in this fragmented media culture. Art the Clown’s 138-minute epic slasher sequel earned $545,500 (+118%) on Friday for a likely $2.29 million (+122%) weekend and $5.651 million domestic cume. Even accounting for the notion of demographically specific event movies (think RRR, Christmas with the Chosen, BTS: Permission to Dance, etc.), this is quite unexpected. Terrifier 2 is turning into The Greatest Showman of unrated slasher epics.

Sony’s Lyle Lyle Crocodile earned $1.185 million (-41%) on Friday for a likely $4.19 million (-43%) weekend and a disappointing $28.7 million 17-day cume. Sony’s The Woman King earned $520,000 (-49%) on Friday for a $1.93 million (-48%) weekend and $62.9 million 38-day domestic cume. Warner Bros. Discovery’s Don’t Worry Darling will have $44 million by day 31, while 20th Century Studios’ all-star (and $80 million) Amsterdam will have just $14 million by day 17. 20th Century Studios’ $4 million, R-rated original Barbarian will cross $40 million domestic this weekend, a remarkable achievement even while Smile stole much of its buzz. Top Gun: Maverick will plunge 61% in weekend 22 for a $261,000 weekend to absolutely, unquestionably and probably permanently fall out of the top ten. It’ll have to settle for Titanic-worthy legs, $716.5 million domestic and around $1.48 billion worldwide.