Paramount’s horror film “Smile” is showing remarkable strength at the box office, earning $5.3 million in its second Friday at the box office. The studio is now projecting a $16.8 million second weekend for Parker Finn’s movie, which would give it a second No. 1 on the charts over Sony’s new release “Lyle Lyle Crocodile”
“Smile” has had fairly positive audience metrics with a B- on CinemaScore and a 69% positive score on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak, but nothing that would indicate particularly long legs for a horror film. But this second weekend total would be just a 26% drop from the film’s $22.6 million opening weekend, giving the film a $49 million 10-day total against a $17 million budget ahead of the release of Universal’s “Halloween Ends” next Friday.
“Lyle Lyle Crocodile” is in second place on the charts with an estimated $12-13 million opening weekend from 4,350 theaters, a result that meets pre-weekend projections. The $50 million family film co-financed by Columbia Pictures and TSG Entertainment now faces an uphill climb to profitability, with Sony hoping that more families will discover the film over the course of October. Audience reception has been positive so far with an A- on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 68% critics and 93% audience.
But the film in third place, 20th Century/New Regency’s “Amsterdam,” is shaping up to be a box office bomb and another blow for adult-skewing films at movie theaters. Directed by David O. Russell and produced by New Regency on a reported $80 million budget, industry estimates have “Amsterdam” earning just $7 million in its opening weekend from 3,005 theaters.
Films aimed at adults looking for mature fare have almost all struggled at the box office since theaters reopened, but “Amsterdam” in particular was destined for a terrible start after earning just 35% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Such mature films need strong reviews to have any hope of getting a foothold with audiences, and not even the film’s stacked ensemble cast with names like Christian Bale, Taylor Swift, Chris Rock and Margot Robbie could make up for the poor reception. Audiences were somewhat kinder with a B on CinemaScore, but that won’t nearly be enough to save this film from financial failure.
Holdovers complete the Top 5 with Sony/eOne’s “The Woman King” in fourth with $5.3 million in its fourth weekend, giving it a $54 million total. Warner Bros./New Line’s “Don’t Worry Darling” completes the Top 5 with $3.5 million in its third weekend and a $38 million total.
Outside the Top 5, Universal’s “Bros” is on its way to an early exit from the box office, falling 53% from its anemic $4.8 million opening weekend with an estimated $2.3 million second weekend total and a domestic total of just $9 million against a $22 million budget.