411 Box Office Report: Black Adam Reigns Again With $27 Million

It was another week on top for Black Adam, as the DCEU film held on okay to top the box office. The Dwayne Johnson-starring film grossed $27.7 million this weekend, down 59% from last weekend’s $67 million opening. That drop is comparable to the 58% drop that Johnson’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw had in August of 2019 and slightly higher than the 54% drop of Shazam!, the last post-pandemic DCEU film, in its second weekend.

There are a couple of caveats to that last stat, it should be said. For one, Shazam! opened somewhat lower but so had less room to fall. For another, it didn’t have its second weekend on a holiday frame. Halloween has traditionally had an impact on box office results when it takes place during or around a weekend as families are spending more less time at the theaters, and those that do tend to gravitate toward horror more. Last year’s Halloween weekend saw Dune drop 62% in its second weekend and an overall anemic box office; receipts were low in 2014, 2015, and 2016 as well, all of which saw Halloween take place between a Friday and a Monday.

All that said, Black Adam is doing okay all in all. The film showed more strength on Saturday than projections yesterday thought, a sign of the positive audience word of mouth coming into play. It has now grossed $111.1 million domestically and $250.1 million worldwide. It still has a ways to go if it wants to make back its $200 million production budget, but it is on course to get close to that at the very least. It has one more clear weekend until Black Panther: Wakanda Forever comes in to play, and it should be able to reach at least $160 million domestically and perhaps more, with the continued overseas numbers likely to push it into profit – especially if it gets a China release.

Meanwhile, Ticket to Paradise held on very well as the counter-programming option for the who didn’t want The Rock or horror. The Julia Roberts & George Clooney romantic comedy took in $10 million, down just 39% from its opening weekend. Chalk that up to the star power of the leads, as this film has had moderate buzz at best and is holding much better than romcoms have in recent years. The film now has $33.7 million domestically and $119.4 million worldwide, headed toward profit against a $60 million production budget. The film should be able to top $55 million domestically with ease.

With a glut of horror options on the table, the new one opened quietly in Prey for the Devil. Lionsgate’s exorcism movie brought in $7 million, right around expectations for the film. That’s not a great result, especially in a year that’s seen strong results from other non-franchise horror like Barbarian, Nope, and Smile. But neither is it disastrous for a low-profile film without any big-name stars that hasn’t performed well with critics (a 20% score on Rotten Tomatoes) or fans (a C+ CinemaScore, merely “okay” for the genre, and 69% RT audience rating).

We don’t know how much Prey For the Devil cost Lionsgate, but it should be noted that they gave this a very light marketing campaign that was mostly digital, which means that it didn’t cost as much to promote as other films. Seen in that light, Prey may still be on a path to profit. It should fall heavily next weekend, but $20 million should be doable domestically.

Smile, meanwhile, continued its strong holds as it was off just 40% in its fifth weekend to $5 million. The horror flick now stands at $92.4 million domestically and $186 million worldwide, monster numbers against a budget of just $17 million. The movie is still on course for $100 million domestically by the end of its run and is a huge hit for Paramount.

Halloween Ends stabilized a tiny bit after last week’s massive drop, slipping 52% to $3.8 million for its third weekend. The concluding chapter in the David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy has now grossed $60.3 million domestically and $94.7 million worldwide, not huge numbers but still easily a profit against a $20 million budget. The film is also streaming on Peacock so is driving subscriptions there. It should be able to end its run with $70 million or so stateside.

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile eased up, down 34% in its fourth weekend to $2.8 million. The Sony Pictures family film needs all the strong holds it can get, with a total of $32.6 million domestically and $50.6 million worldwide against a $50 million budget. It looks like it will be a money loser and shouldn’t make it much above $40 million in the US.

United Artists expanded Till to wide release this weekend, and it delivered a solid $2.8 million. The historical drama comes in with stellar buzz, scoring a 98% RT critic score, a 96% audience score and an A+ CinemaScore. Till is expected to feature during award season, particularly for Danielle Deadwyler in the Best Actress race, and UA is looking at a longer haul for this film that has $3.6 million thus far. Its final tally depends on how the studio handles its platforming release but it’s off to a very good start. No word on its budget yet.

Terrifier 2 remains a buzzy horror hit for Bloody Disgusting and Cinemdigm, grossing $1.8 million in its fourth weekend. That’s up another 3% from last weekend’s take. The violent slasher sequel now has $7.6 million domestically and $7.7 million worldwide, big numbers against a budget of just $250,000. It arrives on ScreamBox tomorrow.

The Woman King slipped 41% its seventh weekend to gross $1.1 million. The historical action drama is now up to $64.6 million domestically and $87.3 million worldwide. It’s getting close to a profit margin against its $50 million budget and should close out stateside with around $68 million.

Oscar buzzy film Tár expanded to 1,087 theaters and took in $1 million, bringing its total to $2.5 million domestic. The Cate Blanchett-led biopic of the famed German conducter Lydia Tár is, like Till, a critic-loved movie at 94% on RT. The audience reaction is a bit more divisive at 74%, but it should continue to do business depending on how Focus Features handles the platformed release. No word on its budget.

Next weekend will see a third #1 for Black Adam with no major viable contenders to dethrone it. The sole new wide release will be the drama Armageddon Time, which should be in the low single digits.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Black Adam – $67 million ($111.1 million total, $250.1 million WW)
2. Ticket to Paradise – $16.3 million ($33.7 million total, $119.4 million WW)
3. Prey For the Devil – $7 million ($7 million total, $7 million WW)
4. Smile – $8.4 million ($92.4 million total, $186 million WW)
5. Halloween Ends – $8 million ($60.3 million total, $94.7 million WW)
6. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile – $2.8 million ($32.6 million total, $50.6 million WW)
7. Till – $2.8 million ($3.6 million total, $3.6 million WW)
8. Terrifier 2 – $1.8 million ($7.6 million total, $7.7 million total WW)
9. The Woman King – $1.1 million ($64.6 million total, $87.3 million WW)
10. Tár – $1 million ($2.5 million total, $2.5 million WW)