411 Box Office Report: Chainsaw Man Flies To #1, Black Phone 2 Takes #2 Spot

Anime reigned again at the box office as Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc overperformed to take the top spot. Sony Pictures’ release of the anime action film grossed $17.3 million for #1. That’s above the low teens opening that analysts predicted going into the weekend.

Chainsaw Man follows in the steps of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which set records in September with a $70.6 million opening. While obviously not close to that level, Chainsaw Man is otherwise the best anime opening since Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero started with $21.1 million in August of 2022.

The start continues to show the strength of anime at the box office. Once a niche genre, Japanese animated films are now regularly opening north of $10 million. Sony-owned Crunchyroll distributed Chainsaw Man and took advantage of the popularity of the related anime series. It also benefitted from stellar reviews, sitting at a 96% Rotten Tomatoes critic aggregate. Fans also love the film, which has an A CinemaScore and 99% RT audience rating.

As we all know, anime tends to be frontloaded. So don’t expect Chainsaw Man to reign at the top for three-plus weeks. However, it doesn’t need to. The film has added $90.8 million overseas for $108 million worldwide. There’s no word on the budget but this will be a big money maker. Domestically, it should close out around $35 million.

Black Phone 2 had a solid hold in its second weekend. The supernatural horror sequel added $13 million to its coffers. That’s down 52%, a fine number for a film that overperformed last weekend. While it’s higher than the 48% drop for the first Black Phone, Blumhouse & Universal aren’t stressing it. Black Phone 2 now has $49.1 million domestically and $80.4 million worldwide. That makes it profitable against a $30 million budget. The way it’s going, it should end around $75 million which is a perfectly fine result.

The latest Colleen Hoover adaptation performed perfectly fine in Regretting You. The romantic drama, based on Hoover’s novel, launched to $13 million. That’s about where it was looking at coming into the weekend. Hoover is best known for It Ends With Us, a novel whose adaptation opened to $50 million last August.

Of course, It Ends With Us is more famous at this point for the legal war between director/star Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. Regretting You has no such albatross at the moment. It also has less critical regard at a 29% RT average compared to It Ends With You’s 54%. That doesn’t matter to audiences, who like the film at an 87% RT audience rating and B CinemaScore.

Regretting You is on its way to a likely profit (albeit small) with $22.9 million worldwide against a $30 million budget. It won’t be the smash that It Ends With You was, but it should be in fine shape by the time it’s done. $35 million to $40 million is the endgame for it.

In less positive news, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere opened softly at just $9.1 million. That’s not a good start for an expensive, high-profile music biopic. The Jeremy Allen White-led film was hoping for a mid-teens start heading into Friday. It’s below the $11.7 million launch of the Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown in April.

Unlike Regretting You, Deliver Me From Nowhere was a film where the reviews did matter because the demographics are different. And the drama was mediocre at a 61% RT audience rating. Moviegoers liked it enough at a B+ CinemaScore and 85% RT audience rating, but not enough of them were willing to check it out.

Deliver Me From Nowhere was also more expensive, sitting at a $50 million budget. With a worldwide start of $16.1 million, things are not looking great. The reviews won’t be enough to give it legs and any awards buzz is starting to evaporate. As it stands, the film should close out with around $35 million stateside. That’s nowhere near enough for profit.

Tron: Ares continued its descent, down 56% in its third weekend to $4.9 million. The Disney’s sci-fi action threequel is now at $63.4 million in the US and $123.4 million worldwide, a bomb against a $180 million budget. There’s no saving this one, and it may be a long time before we see Jared Leto headlining a blockbuster again. The final domestic total looks to be around $75 million. Yeesh.

Lionsgate’s Good Fortune halved its opening weekend, down 50% to $3.1 million The religious comedy is another box office disappointment for the studio with $11.8 million domestically and $12.3 million worldwide against a $30 million budget. Things aren’t looking good for the ensemble film, even when you add in home video. However, there are still international territories yet to roll out so a surprise is possible. The domestic end game is looking at around $18 million.

Neon opened the supernatural horror film Shelby Oaks this weekend to a relatively mild $2.4 million. That’s not the best start considering it’s a horror film opening in October, but it’s perfectly fine for the studio. The opening is slightly below that of Neon’s Cuckoo, which launched to $3 million last August.

Shelby Oaks was a buzzy title out of 2024 Fantasia Fest. That buzz didn’t translate to a wider critic audience, though. It has a 59% RT critic aggregate, and fan sentiment is a 60% on RT with a C+ CinemaScore. But Neon knew what it was doing here, marketing smartly and keeping costs low. Shelby Oaks had a budget around $2 million and should be in fine shape, especially when it hits streaming. Domestically it will end around $5 million to $6 million.

One Battle After Another was off just 39% drop in its fifth weekend to $2.3 million. The Paul Thomas Anderson drama now has $65.8 million domestically and $180 million worldwide. It’s till on course for around $70 million in the US. It will be a money loser in theaters against a $140 million budget. However, it will reap rewards on home video especially when the Oscars come around.

Roofman slipped 46% in its third weekend to $2 million. The drama now has $19.4 million stateside and $22.9 million worldwide against a $19 million budget. The domestic finish should be around $25 million.

Closing out the top 10 was the re-release of ParaNorman. The animated gateway horror adventure took in $1.1 million through Fathom Events. It has a lifetime total of $57.1 million in the US and $109.2 million worldwide.

It will be a rematch of holdovers at the top next weekend between Black Phone 2 and Chainsaw Man. The sole new wide release is Bugonia, which is looking at a single-digits start. We also have a re-release of Back to the Future for its 40th anniversary, seeking about $5 million. A re-release of Kpop Demon Hunters: A Sing-Along Event should claim the same amount.

Box Office Top Ten (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)

1. Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc – $17.3 million ($17.3 million total, $108 million WW)
2. Black Phone 2 – $13 million ($49.1 million total, $80.4 million WW)
3. Regretting You – $12.9 million ($12.9 million total, $22.9 million WW)
4. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere – $9.1 million ($16.1 million WW)
5. Tron: Ares – $4.9 million ($63.4 million total, $123.4 million WW)
6. Good Fortune – $3.1 million ($11.8 million total, $12.3 million WW)
7. Shelby Oaks – $2.4 million ($2.4 million total, $2.4 million WW)
8. One Battle After Another – $2.3 million ($65.8 million total, $180 million WW)
9. Roofman – $2 million ($19.4 million total, $22.9 million WW)
10. ParaNorman – $1.1 million ($57.1 million total, $109.2 million WW)