‘Smile’ And ‘Terrifier 2’ Hold But ‘Amsterdam’ Drops 66%

In holdover news for Friday, Paramount’sPARA
Smile held its own against the mighty Michael Myers. Parker Finn’s buzzy breakout earned $3.73 million (-31%) on Friday for a likely $12.7 million (-31%) third-weekend gross. That will give it a jaw-dropping $71.5 million 17-day total. One more hold like this, and it’s sure to pass $100 million domestic (a milestone Halloween Ends may not reach since both previous Blumhouse entries were uber-frontloaded).

In other ‘horror is good’ news, Barbarian earned $406,000 (-36%) on Friday for a likely $1.33 million (-39%) weekend and $38.9 million domestic cume. It’ll pass $40 million next weekend, a fine achievement for an R-rated, star-free grindhouse original. Bloody Disgusting’s Terrifier 2 earned $340,000 (-5%) while adding theaters in an extended theatrical engagement. We can expect a $810,000 (+1%) weekend and $2.255 million 11-day cume. That’ll do Art. That’ll do.

Meanwhile, Columbia and Sony’s delightful Lyle, Lyle Crocodile earned $2 million (-45%) on Friday for a likely $7.6 million (-34%). That gives the $50 million family-friendly comedy a mediocre $23 million ten-day cume. I wish it were doing better, but the IP wasn’t as big a deal as Peter Rabbit, Paddington or Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Sony’s The Woman King earned another $1 million (-24%) on Friday for a $3.91 million (-24%) weekend and $60 million 31-day cume. It should crawl to $70 million in the end, give or take Oscar season attention, with its overseas prospects still mostly unknown. It’s not a blockbuster, but it’s a great film pulling its domestic theatrical weight.

Alas, David O. Russell’s Amsterdam crashed hard, earning just $888,000 (-66%) on Friday. We can expect the Christian Bale/Margot Robbie/John David Washington comic thriller to make just $2.85 million (-56%) for a miserable $12 million ten-day total. I liked this one a lot, but audiences no longer automatically show up for star-packed non-franchise films unless almost everything (reviews, high concept, ensemble cast, marquee director, promise of escapism) goes right.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s Don’t Worry Darling earned $740,000 (-36%) on Friday for a likely $2.29 million (-35%) weekend and $42.5 million 24-day total. Again, it’s not a blockbuster or a franchise starter, but the $35 million Olivia Wilde-directed thriller will make money. Universal’s Bros earned $290,000 (-57%) on Friday for a $900,000 (-58%) weekend and poor $10.9 million 17-day total.

Paramount and Skydance’s Top Gun: Maverick remained in the top ten with a $730,000 (-9%) weekend and a bonkers $716 million cume. By tomorrow, the Tom Cruise legacy sequel will have sold more tickets in North America than Black Panther. This will be its 21st consecutive weekend in the top ten, the first film to do so since Titanic in 1997 and Forrest Gump in 1994. I imagine this will be its last such weekend (at least consecutively), but we’ll see.