‘Prey For The Devil’ Nabs $3 Million Friday As Oscar Contenders Struggle

With the big Halloween movies already in play and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever two weeks away, it is another quiet weekend for newbies at the domestic box office. The one new wide release is Lionsgate’s long-delayed Prey for the Devil. The PG-13 horror flick earned $660,000 in Thursday previews and grossed another $2.83 million Friday. That suggests an over/under $7 million opening weekend in 2,450 theaters, about in line with cautiously optimistic forecasts. Considering the relative lack of buzz, expectedly lousy reviews (17% and 3.6/10 on Rotten Tomatoes), star-free cast and harsh scary season competition, this is a moral victory even if it’s not remotely a barnburner. The film got a C+ from Cinemascore, which is almost good for a low-profile horror flick, but I would expect it will be ancient history by the time it pops up on PVOD in a few weeks.

United Artists expanded Till into semi-wide release in its third frame. The acclaimed and Oscar-buzzy drama earned $1.03 million in 2,058 theaters. That suggests a $2.78 million (+665%) weekend for a mediocre $1,351 per-theater average and $3.607 million 17-day total. Unless it truly becomes a must-see film for Oscar watchers and related general audiences, and that could happen if Danielle Deadwyler gets a Best Actress nomination, we are looking at an under-$10 million domestic finish. With all due respect, audiences wanting a big studio flick for/from/by/about empowered Black heroes will flock to the MCU sequel opening in two weeks. To be fair, and I say this with zero judgment, we saw likewise in 2016 when Nate Parker’s much-discoursed Birth of the Nation was ignored in favor of Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington’s popcorn-y but righteously angry The Magnificent Seven remake.

Likewise, rave reviews and social media discourse aside, Cate Blanchett’s TÁR isn’t exactly mainstream entertainment, and I would have said that in 1994 as well. I am old enough to remember critics and pundits decrying the lack of theatrical business for Quiz Show and Ed Wood, even if back then, at least folks were showing up for Pulp Fiction. The 2.5-hour melodrama about a world-famous and top-of-her-field conductor dealing with skeletons in her closet and/or chickens coming home to roost, expanded to 940 theaters on weekend three and earned $340,000 on Friday. That positions the Focus Features release for a $1 million weekend. That gives the Best Actress frontrunner (for now) a mere $920 per-theater average and $2.5 million 17-day total. Searchlight’s The Banshees of Inishin expanded to 59 theaters for an over/under $440,000 (+139%) weekend and $7,458 per-theater average.

Focus Features’ Armageddon Time debuted in five theaters yesterday to indifferent results. James Grey’s mostly acclaimed 80’s set melodrama stars Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong and Anthony Hopkins and at least tries to be a little less nostalgic than is usual for the sub-genre. However, I imagine if any such (loosely autobiographical) coming-of-age drama is going to break out commercially, it will be Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans over Thanksgiving weekend. Armageddon Time earned $35,000 on Friday for an over/under $78,000 weekend and a $13,000 per-theater average. Nobody is expecting big bucks from films like Triangle of Sadness ($2.24 million in 24 days) or Decision to Leave ($794,000 after 17 days). Still, I will be curious to see which of this season’s awards contenders can at least make as much as David O. Russell’s mega-bomb Amsterdam ($15 million) or even Terrifier 2 ($7.7 million and rising).