Blockbusters Return as Black Adam Opens to $67 Million, Ticket to Paradise is Solid Counter-programming with $16 Million
by Sam Mendelsohn - Box Office News
Oct. 23, 2022


After 12 straight weekends with an overall box office under $100 million, we’re finally back above the nine digit threshold. Led by Black Adam, the latest film in the DC Extended Universe, this weekend had an overall gross of $113 million, the best since July and the third best non-summer weekend of the year.

Black Adam’s $67 million start is the best since Thor: Love and Thunder (which, perhaps not coincidentally, was the last big superhero film) in July, and it is the best opening of the year for a property that hasn’t already been established on the big screen (though it of course has big franchise connections).




The titular anti-hero Black Adam is portrayed by Dwayne Johnson, and the foray of one of Hollywood’s biggest stars into the world of superheroes turned out to be a fruitful one, giving him the biggest opening of his career for a live-action film where he is front and center rather than in an ensemble.

In other words, it is his best opening outside of The Mummy Returns ($68.1 million) and the Fast & Furious series, though it did open better than Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw ($60 million). The opening came in well ahead of the DC film Shazam! ($53.5 million), which Black Adam is a spinoff from, and around the same as Aquaman ($67.9 million).




All of this is great news for exhibitors who have lacked big blockbusters since summer ended, and pretty good news for the film, though the jury is still out on whether it performs well enough to justify the steep $195 million budget.

So far so good, though, and it is seeing solid overseas numbers as well, bringing in $73 million from 67 markets which is 27% ahead of Shazam! when comparing like-for-likes at today’s rates (note that Shazam! grossed $366 million worldwide, though $43.8 million of that was from China where Black Adam’s release remains uncertain).

The global cume after one weekend is $140 million.




The B+ CinemaScore shows that audiences like the film much more than critics (40% on Rotten Tomatoes), and the 90% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes is the best in the DCEU, so it doesn’t look like it will sink after its opening.







The weekend’s other opener Ticket to Paradise is looking to be a solid slice of counter-programming. The George Clooney-Julia Roberts-starring rom-com opened in second place to $16.3 million, showing that there’s still a market for the genre and that older audiences will show up with the right content (64% of ticket buyers for this one were above the age of 35).

It will have to show some long legs if it is to have a solid domestic cume given its $60 million budget, but there’s not much pressure on the domestic release.




Ticket to Paradise came out in September and early October in most of the world, and it had already racked up around $75 million abroad before it released in its home territory.

The global cume now stands at $96.6 million, so it is well positioned to make a profit whatever happens from here. Still, this is another film that audiences liked more than critics (A- CinemaScore compared to 55% on Rotten Tomatoes), so it may continue to play well with domestic audiences, even if it doesn’t have the same success as it is seeing abroad.







Third place went to horror hit Smile, which is maintaining its sensational run, dropping 34% for an $8.4 million weekend four.

The cume is now $84.3 million domestic and $166 million abroad.







Remarkably, Smile came in ahead of last weekend’s champion Halloween Ends. The series finale had a solid $40 million opening, but it cratered this weekend, coming in fourth place as it fell a whopping 80% to gross just $8 million.

As bad as that sounds (and it is one of the biggest second weekend drops of all time), it has already grossed $82 million worldwide against a $30 million budget, and keep in mind it has also been available for streaming on Peacock.







Fifth place went to Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile with $4.2 million, down 43%. Not a bad hold, and last weekend’s 36% drop was very good, but the numbers are still too small to celebrate for the $50 million budgeted film, which has a cume of just $28.7 million after three weekends.

It could still be saved abroad, though, as it rolls out bit by bit in the coming months. As of now it has opened in just 16 markets and grossed $8.4 million, but in markets such as Spain, Germany, and the U.K. it is doing much better than comps Clifford The Big Red Dog and Dora and the Lost City of Gold, which both grossed around $60 million abroad.

Don’t count this one out quite yet.







Also of note in the top ten is the indie slasher film Terrifier 2, which is defying the laws of box office gravity.

The film came out two weeks ago via Iconic Events Releasing and grossed $805k from 770 screens, and it followed that up with a 28% bigger $955k second weekend despite shrinking by 70 screens.

This weekend it added just 55 screens only to grow 84%, grossing an amazing $1.9 million this weekend for a seventh place finish, its highest ranking yet. The cume is now $5.3 million.







Most notable in the specialty box office is the opening of Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, which grossed $181k from four theaters, nabbing the year’s second best per-theater average with $45k.

The Searchlight film, which stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, will expand to a dozen or so theaters next weekend and 600-800 the following weekend.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/article/ed493945860/?ref_=bo_hm_hp







October 21-23, 2022: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Black Adam $67,004,323
2. Ticket to Paradise $16,509,095
3. Smile $8,472,322 / $84,432,083
4. Halloween Ends $8,000,510 / $54,177,950
5. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile $4,251,217 / $28,764,068
6. The Woman King $1,877,372 / $62,833,460
7. Terrifier 2 $1,756,000 / $5,116,500
8. Don't Worry Darling $867,750 / $44,260,372
9. Amsterdam $824,676 / $13,930,241
10. Triangle of Sadness $601,052 / $1,420,927

For Marvel that’d be pretty bad. For DC it’s probably decent.

Black Adam Drops 59% but Retains Top Spot with $28 Million, Prey for the Devil Opens to Soft $7 Million in Weak Pre-Halloween Weekend
by Sam Mendelsohn - Box Office News
Oct. 30, 2022


After a $114 million overall box office last weekend, the first since July to hit the nine digits, the numbers plunged back down again to a weak $65.8 million pre-Halloween weekend.

The weekends leading up to or including October 31st are often among the year’s lowest grossing, so this isn’t such a buzzkill, but it’s still far below the pre-pandemic norms, with no late October weekend grossing this little since the 1990s.

Next weekend looks to be even worse, and though Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will bring the numbers back up the following weekend and possibly give us just the year’s fourth $200+ million total weekend box office, the current state of the yo-yoing box office is still far from ideal.







Last week’s champ Black Adam reigned once again this weekend, grossing $27.7 million and making up 42% of the total box office. The ten day cume comes to $111 million, vaulting it past nearly every film that has opened after the last big superhero film Thor: Love and Thunder came out in early July (the only film since that Black Adam hasn’t passed is Nope, which grossed $123 million, but it’s just days out from getting there).

That’s all a good sign for the box office as a whole after a three month drought of big blockbuster content, but whether the 59% drop on the $195 million budgeted DCEU film is good is hard to say. The drop isn’t bad, especially accounting for the additional Halloween weekend dip, but some stronger legs were hoped for after a good but not exceptional $67 million opening.

If Black Adam were able to triple its opening, that would have put it right past $200 million, but that looks less likely now.







At the rate it’s going, the year will likely end without a single non-sequel crossing $200 million, even when you count new characters in existing extended universes as non-sequels (even 2021 had Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings get to $225 million). Domestic comps from here on out are last November’s MCU film Eternals, which had a ten day cume of $118 million and went on to gross $165 million, and Dwayne Johnson’s own Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, which had a ten day cume of $108 million and went on to gross $174 million.

Worldwide the cume is now $250 million, with international holdover territories dropping 45%. Whether it can still get to $400 million may depend on how well the gross holds up after Wakanda Forever comes out, but that seems to be an unlikely milestone if it doesn’t get a China release.







Last weekend’s number two Ticket to Paradise held its spot on the charts as it held great with $10 million, down just 39%. That puts the Clooney/Roberts rom-com at $33.7 million after ten days, not a great number for a $60 million budgeted film, but given its success abroad with $85.7 million in the bank from international markets, this one is already looking profitable.

If it continues to show great legs domestically, then all the merrier. Some recent comps for where it could go from here are Where the Crawdads Sing, which had a $38.4 million ten-day and went on to gross $90.2 million, and The Woman King, which had a $36.2 million ten-day and currently has a $64.6 million cume (and it should creep up a few more million before finishing).

Good word of mouth and the lack of mainstream titles for adults are working in the favor of Ticket to Paradise, and a $150 million worldwide cume should be in the cards here, though it remains to be seen if it can go much beyond that.







The rest of the top five is appropriately made up of horror films.

The weekend’s only newcomer to go wide is Lionsgate’s Prey for the Devil, which came in third place with an unimpressive $7 million debut from 2,980 theaters. The budget is likely low here, so this may be good enough for what it is, though it’s worth pointing out that the director Daniel Stamm’s earlier film The Last Exorcism did more than that on its opening day and went on to gross $41 million off a $1.8 million budget.

Hardly any critics turned up for Prey for the Devil and those that did were largely unenthusiastic (it’s at 20% from 20 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes), and the C+ CinemaScore isn’t bad for a horror film but also doesn’t give hope of it growing its audience much.







Smile continues its fantastic run, dropping 40% for a fourth place finish with $5 million.

The cume is now $92.4 million after five weekends.







Less impressive is Halloween Ends, coming in fifth with $3.8 million in its third weekend, bringing its total to just $60.3 million.

The global cume of $94.7 million is still pretty good for the $33 million budgeted film, which has also been available since day one on the streaming platform Peacock, but the numbers here will end up well below that of Halloween Kills ($92 million domestic, $132 million worldwide) which itself was well below its predecessor Halloween (2018) ($159 million domestic, $256 million worldwide).







Also in the top ten is the biopic Till, which United Artists expanded to 2,058 theaters.

The $2.8 million weekend gross (which placed it in seventh) and $3.6 million cume are nothing to write home about, but the A+ CinemaScore is, being just the third film this year to receive that highest level of praise from audiences.

If Till keeps it up, it could become one of the few specialty box office titles this year to even pass $10 million.







The other noteworthy title in the top ten is Terrifier 2, the season’s most surprising indie success, which came in eighth place with $1.8 million as it expanded to 1,550 theaters.

This is its fourth weekend, and each weekend has seen a bigger gross than the previous despite no significant expansions prior to this. The cume is now $7.6 million.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/article/ed460391428/?ref_=bo_hm_hp







October 28-30, 2022: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Black Adam $27,700,333 / $111,139,000
2. Ticket to Paradise $10,000,430 / $33,732,000
3. Prey for the Devil $7,025,000
4. Smile $5,049,770 / $92,387,000
5. Halloween Ends $3,830,290 / $60,324,000
6. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile $2,824,767 / $32,560,000
7. Till $2,810,353 / $3,637,000
8. Terrifer 2 $1,803,750 / $7,638,050
9. The Woman King $1,109,760 / $64,584,000
10. Tar $1,020,177 / $2,488,000

Black Adam Tops in 3rd Weekend with $18.5 Million, One Piece Film: Red is Another Solid Anime Release with $9.5 Million Opening
by Sam Mendelsohn - Box Office News
Nov. 6, 2022


This was another rough weekend at the box office with the combined gross of all films clocking in at $57.7 million, which is down 15% from last weekend and ranks as the year’s eighth lowest grossing.

It isn’t all bad news, though. The weekend saw some great holds and a solid opening, and the post-summer box office slump will come to an end next weekend when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever delivers what may be the year’s biggest opening, leading what could potentially be the year’s highest grossing weekend.







Until then, Black Adam continues to lead the way. The DCEU film starring Dwayne Johnson brought in another $18.5 million in its third weekend, holding well as it dropped 33%, much improved from last weekend’s 59% decline.

With a cume of $137 million, it is ahead of comp Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, which dropped 44% in its third weekend with a gross of $14.2 million and a cume of $134 million. Hobbs & Shaw went on to gross $174 million, though Black Adam may not keep the same pace with the big superhero competition coming next week, and it should also be noted that these numbers may not be enough for the film to make up its $200 million budget.




The international numbers are similarly solid but not especially strong considering the cost. It grossed $25.4 million this weekend from most markets (though China is out of play here, and Japan has yet to open), down 35% in holdover markets, bringing it to an international cume of $182 million.

Worldwide the total is $320 million. At this point, it’s safe to say that this isn’t a smash, but it’s not a flop either.







It looked like Black Adam had a serious challenger this weekend from the anime One Piece Film: Red, which is the ninth highest grossing film of all time in Japan with $120 million.

The audience didn’t prove to be quite as large in North America, though, with the $9.5 million weekend cume giving it a second place finish. Still, this is a solid showing for the Crunchyroll release, which continues to show the expanding market for anime.







Third place went to Ticket to Paradise, which is having another great hold, dropping just 14% for a third weekend gross of $8.5 million and a cume of $46.7 million.

That’s ahead of the $7.6 million third weekend of Where the Crawdads Sing (which was a drop of 27%), though that film still leads in its post-third weekend cume with $53.6 million.

The $90.5 million international gross puts the $60 million budgeted rom-com at $137 million worldwide with still more to come, making it one of the few clear winners of the fall season.







As for the biggest winner of the fall season, Smile remains in the top five in its sixth weekend, dropping 26% and grossing $4 million.

The domestic cume is at $99.1 million, just shy of the century mark, and the international cume of $104 million puts it past $200 million worldwide, a remarkable feat for a $17 million budget film.







Prey for the Devil took fifth place with $3.88 million.

The 46% weekend two drop is pretty good for a horror film that isn’t especially well received, but the $7.2 million opening last weekend was too small for it to really go anywhere even with solid holds.

The cume is now $13.6 million.







The specialty box office is still struggling:

The Banshees of Inisherin expanded to 895 theaters and came in seventh place with $2 million (and a $3 million cume).

This beats last weekend’s expansion of Tár ($1 million from 1,087 theaters, and this weekend it brought in another $670k for a cume of $3.7 million), but it’s hardly a sign of recovery for the segment.

Armageddon Time’s 1,006 theater expansion is less impressive, grossing $810k and falling outside of the top ten (the cume is $902k).

Till is faring the best of the season’s awards hopefuls, and it dropped 32% to come in eighth place with $1.88 million this weekend, bringing the total to $6.58 million.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/article/ed426836996/?ref_=bo_hm_hp







November 4-6, 2022: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Black Adam $18,271,625 / $137,117,326
2. One Piece Film: Red $9,323,267
3. Ticket to Paradise $8,546,985 / $46,771,105
4. Smile $3,986,134 / $99,093,209
5. Prey for the Devil $3,893,288 / $13,661,998
6. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile $3,367,758 / $36,574,626
7. The Banshees of Inisherin $2,056,919 / $3,090,021
8. Till $1,850,234 / $6,557,668
9. Halloween Ends $1,440,250 / $63,485,440
10. Terrifier 2 $1,130,675 / $9,769,575