Halloween weekend brings five (yes five) pictures either debuting or expanding nationally. Some of them may not treat theirselves to a top 5 finish. The contenders are Edgar Wright’s 60s set psychological horror pic Last Night in Soho, Scott Cooper’s creature feature Antlers, Wes Anderson’s latest comedy The French Dispatch, Japanese animated sequel My Heroes Academia: World Heroes’ Mission, and Amanda Seyfried in the drama A Mouthful of Air. You can peruse my detailed prediction posts on the quintet at these links:
My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission Box Office Prediction
I’ll begin with the low hanging fruit. Mouthful is only opening in 800 theaters and has barely been advertised. My tiny $846,000 estimate leaves it outside of the top ten.
Of all the premieres, I suspect Academia could actually make the most and it might be the only one in the top 5. This is based on the assumption that Soho and Antlers will both struggle.
The French Dispatch is more of a question mark. It debuted in 52 venues this weekend and its $1.3 million take (good for ninth place) represents the highest per screen average in the COVID era. However, that could be misleading as it expands across the nation and non-Anderson fanatics may not turn out.
As for holdovers, Dune met expectations in its start (more on that below) and seemed to garner the audience stamp of approval with an A- Cinemascore. It should easily maintain the top spot and I’ll say a 50-55% dip is most feasible. Halloween Kills, No Time to Die, Academia, and maybe even Venom (or Soho or Antlers or Dispatch if they exceed my forecasts) could battle it out for the runner-up position.
With all the new product, my typical top 5 expands to a top 10 as we close out October. Here’s how I see it:
1. Dune
Predicted Gross: $18.5 million
2. No Time to Die
Predicted Gross: $6.3 million
3. Halloween Kills
Predicted Gross: $6.1 million
4. My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission
Predicted Gross: $6.1 million
5. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Predicted Gross: $5.6 million
6. Last Night in Soho
Predicted Gross: $5.2 million
7. Ron’s Gone Wrong
Predicted Gross: $4.1 million
8. The French Dispatch
Predicted Gross: $3.8 million
9. The Addams Family 2
Predicted Gross: $3.3 million
10. Antlers
Predicted Gross: $3.2 million
Box Office Results (October 22-24)
Despite its simultaneous availability on HBO Max, Denis Villeneuve’s long awaited sci-fi epic Dune performed in the range of anticipation with $41 million, just under my $42.8 million prediction. Considering its streaming dollars, that should certainly be enough for the expected part II.
Halloween Kills was slashed steeply in weekend #2 with $14.4 million. I was a tad higher at $15.4 million. The middle pic in the trilogy is up to a solid $73 million.
No Time to Die was third with $12.2 million, right on pace with my $12.1 million take. The 25th Bond adventure sits at $120 million.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage took fourth with $9.3 million (I said $9.5 million) for $182 million overall.
Finally, the animated Ron’s Gone Wrong didn’t connect with family audiences. Despite complimentary critical reaction, it opened in the five spot with $7.3 million (not matching my $8.4 million projection).
And that does it for now, folks! Until next time…
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