411 Box Office Report: Taylor Swift Clips Killers Of the Flower Moon For #1

Taylor Swift was the reigning box office champion for a second weekend, as The Eras Tour topped Killers Of the Flower Moon for the #1 spot. The concert film led the way with $31 million, down 67% from its massive opening weekend. While that would be a big drop for most genres, concert films tend to be more front-loaded, and the high start meant that The Eras Tour had further to fall. By comparison, Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert dropped 67% back in 2008 and 2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never had a softer drop at 55%.

The Eras Tour is already a huge hit for Swift and AMC theaters with $129.8 million domestically and $160.5 million worldwide against a $10 million to $20 million budget and absolutely minimal marketing costs. As it stands, the film is certain to cross the $150 million mark domestically and should end up around $170 million or so, resulting in a massive profit (remember, there’s no studio cuts from this). All eyes will be on Beyonce’s Renaissance concert film that releases in December to see if this marks a full-on revival of the genre or whether this will be a one-time phenomenon.

While Killers of the Flower Moon had to settle for second place, Apple and Paramount aren’t sweating it. The Western drama grossed $23 million, which is about in the range that analysts were expecting going into the weekend. That’s the third-best start of Martin Scorsese’s career, behind only 2006’s The Departed ($26.9 million) and 2010’s Shutter Island ($41.1 million).

Killers of the Flower Moon had some factors working against it. In addition to being up against the behemoth of Taylor Swift – yes, they have different audiences but Swift is pulling money from all demos – the drama was limited in how many screenings it could have thanks to the prohibitive three and a half hour runtime. But the hype was high here thanks to a 92% aggregated critic average on Rotten Tomatoes and a strong marketing campaign. Word of mouth was strong with an A- CinemaScore and a decent 84% RT audience score, which resulted in good holds throughout the weekend.

There is an elephant in the room here: namely, the film cost $200 million to produce. At that cost, it seems unlikely that the film is profitable in theaters. However, Deadline reports that Apple is fine taking this loss because it’s more of an advertising effort for them as opposed to a more traditional studio film. Prime Video had the same situation with Air earlier this year, which lost money in theaters but ended up driving traffic to Amazon when the film hit Prime.

The bottom line here is that Apple Original Films took a big swing with Scorsese on a film in a long-neglected genre and they’re happy with the results. So while the film – which added $21 million overseas for $44 million worldwide – won’t be profitable even with strong holds, no one is crying over it. The film should close out domestically with around $75 million or so.

The Exorcist: Believer was down 49% in its third weekend, grossing $5.6 million. The legacy sequel is holding on better than director David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, though both of those opened higher. At this point the film has $54.2 million domestically and $107.6 million worldwide against a $30 million budget. Again, that belies the fact that Universal paid $400 million for the rights to their full trilogy (including the two future entries), but as it stands the studio is probably happy-ish with where this one stands considering part of the rights costs are being kicked over to the upcoming films.

PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie continues to hold on decently, down 36% in its fourth weekend with a $4.5 million take. That brings the animated flick to $56.1 million domestically and $148.4 million worldwide. This one is a hit against its $30 million production budget and is on course to pass the $151.4 million worldwide total of PAW Patrol: The Movie. It should be able to pass $65 million to $70 million domestically.

Coming in at #5 was a nostalgia kick as The Nightmare Before Christmas arrived in theaters for its 30th anniversary. Walt Disney put the film in 1,650 theaters as a way to bring in some money while they await the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike; you don’t need to get any cast out promoting a rerelease of a beloved cult film, after all. Nightmare has grossed $81.5 million domestically and $95.3 million worldwide throughout its various theatrical runs.

Saw X also continued to show strong legs, down 37% in its fourth weekend with $3.6 million. The sequel now has $47.2 million domestically and $78.3 million worldwide against a budget of $13 million, a money maker for Lionsgate. The film is still looking likely to finish out around $55 million domestically.

The Creator slipped 40% in its fourth weekend, taking in $2.6 million. The sci-fi film now has $36.8 million stateside and $90.4 million worldwide. There’s no shot at profit for this $80 million film, which has totaled $36.8 million domestically and $90.4 million worldwide. Its domestic final will be in the $42 million range.

On the other hand, A Haunting In Venice is pulling itself bit by bit toward a tiny bit of profit. The mystery film was off 44% to $1.1 million and has now tallied $40.9 million domestically and $112.9 million worldwide against a $60 million budget. The jury is still out on if it will make money, but it’s in better shape than its low start suggested. The US final gross should be around $45 million.

Fathom Events’ The Blind was down 49% in its fourth frame to $1 million. The Phil Robertson biopic is now at $15.7 million, very good considering it had an under the radar release. There’s no word on its budget.

The Nun II dropped 45% in its sixth weekend to $887,000. This is likely it’s last weekend in theaters, as it hits digital on Friday for Halloween weekend. But it’s a hit for Warner Bros. with $85.3 million domestically and $262.8 million worldwide against a $38.5 million budget.

It will be animatronic horror atop the box office next weekend as Five Nights At Freddy’s will lead the way with $40 million to $50 million.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour – $31 million ($129.8 million total, $160.5 million WW)
2. Killers Of The Flower Moon – $23 million ($23 million total, $44 million WW)
3. The Exorcist: Believer – $5.6 million ($54.2 million total, $107.6 million WW)
4. PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie – $4.5 million ($56.1 million total, $148.4 million WW)
5. The Nightmare Before Christmas – $4.1 million ($81.5 million total, $95.3 million WW)
6. Saw X – $3.6 million ($47.2 million total, $78.3 million WW)
7. The Creator – $2.6 million ($36.8 million total, $90.4 million WW)
8. A Haunting In Venice – $1.1 million ($40.9 million total, $112.9 million WW)
9. The Blind – $1 million ($15.7 million total, $15.7 million WW)
10. The Nun II – $887,000 ($85.3 million total, $262.8 million WW)