Blumhouse’s horror sequel, “Black Phone 2,” grossed $10.7 million in Friday screenings and previews, heading for a No. 1 opening. Meanwhile, Aziz Ansari’s comedy “Good Fortune” doesn’t have much of a chance of landing a third-place finish, as the sleepy October box office trudges toward the end of the month.
Universal has “Black Phone 2” in 3,411 North American locations for opening weekend, projecting a three-day total of $24.4 million. That would be in the pre-weekend tracking estimates and a hair ahead of the original “Black Phone,” which debuted to $23.6 million in 2022. The sequel, which sees Ethan Hawke return as the serial killer known as the Grabber, also gets a gross boost by grabbing some premium large-format auditoriums — which feature higher ticket prices — from “Tron: Ares”.
Blumhouse is looking for a box office rebound to end the year after delivering a disappointing 2025 slate of “Wolf Man,” “The Woman in the Yard,” “Drop” and “M3GAN 2.0” — each of which had a modest price tag but ultimately failed to hit theaters. The R-rated “Black Phone 2” will easily mark the biggest opening on Blumhouse’s schedule, but the Scott Derrickson-directed sequel is also one of its most expensive productions with a production budget of $30 million.
After this start, “Black Phone 2” will have to demonstrate durability to end up being a success in theaters. Both critics and audiences were positive, although slightly cooler than the responses to the first installment. Audience research company Cinema Score earned a “B” grade among ticket buyers, down from the “B+” grade for the 2022 original. The first “Black Phone” was a sleeper hit, posting a nearly 4x multiplier in its debut to finish with $90 million domestic. “Black Phone 2” will aim for a similarly long tail, positioned as the premier horror release for the remainder of the Halloween season. As for Blumhouse, the banner still has a sequel, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2”, which will be released in December from Universal.
Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s release of “Good Fortune” is heading toward the lower end of projections, projecting a $5.9 million opening from 2,985 locations. Aziz Ansari’s feature film, which the actor wrote, directed and stars in, grossed just $2.4 million during Friday screenings and previews.
It’s a low-key kickoff for the $30 million production, which arrives despite a star-studded cast including Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Sandra Oh and Keke Palmer, as well as solid reviews and positive buzz among audiences (Cinema Score earned a “B+” rating). It speaks to the difficulty of opening an original R-rated comedy in today’s theatrical landscape, although there was a feel-good story to start the year with Sony’s “One of Them Days” ($50 million domestic total).
In second place, Disney’s “Tron: Ares” earned $3 million on Friday and is expecting a second outing of $11 million, a drop of 65%. The North American total is expected to reach $54 million in the first 10 days. After a disappointing domestic debut and weak participation abroad, the sci-fi sequel faded too quickly to have any hope of recouping its $180 million production budget in theaters.
In a tight race for fourth place, Warner Bros. Awards favorite “One Battle After Another” is currently expected after earning another $1.1 million on Friday, down 45% from its daily total last week. Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio’s very contemporary epic performed well week to week, but the film only grossed $59 million in North America in 22 days after its release. With a production budget of over $130 million, it is estimated that it will lose around $100 million in theaters.
Paramount’s “Roofman” falls to fifth place, earning $1.1 million on its second Friday. The Channing Tatum film is eyeing a second release of $3.6 million, which would mark a 55% drop from its opening. The domestic gross is expected to reach $15.4 million through Sunday – a modest figure, even in the face of a meager $19 million production budget.
Also open this weekend, Angel Studios is showing the World War II thriller “Truth & Treason” in 2,106 theaters. The PG-13-rated drama earned $1.1 million Friday and is expected to be headed for a $2.8 million opening weekend to land at No. 6 on the national charts. Cinema Score earned a glowing “A” grade – which is par for the course for an Angel release.
Meanwhile, Amazon MGM is expanding its R-rated campus drama series “After the Hunt” to 1,238 locations after opening in New York and Los Angeles last weekend. The film grossed around $650,000 on Friday and is headed for seventh place. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, “After the Hunt” features a high-profile cast including Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri and Amazon gave it a presence at the Cinema Con industry gathering in April. But negative reviews when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August appear to have hampered the film. Audiences didn’t like it much at all, with Cinema Score getting a “C-” grade.
