Ok, that headline is a play on titles. ‘Black Adam’ still easily beat competition at the box office.
Falling 59% in its second issue, I mean weekend, the comic book movie ‘Black Adam’ continues to win audiences. While a 59% drop is on the high end of average sophomore drops the flick still whopped up $27.7 million. Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the eponymous anti-hero alongside Aldis Hodge as Hawkman and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate. ‘Black Adam’ is clearly set for a third consecutive week on top of the Weekend Box Office Top 5 as no real competition will hit screens until November 11.
Movie stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney give audiences ‘Ticket to Paradise’ for an easy $10 million, down 39% from last weekend. The romantic comedy is showing naysayers wrong about the seemingly out-of-favor genre. Though not the box office smash that superheroes currently enjoy, the rom-com genre isn’t entirely washed up. Julia Roberts, who became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars through her leading roles in the genre, proves star power still holds sway at the box office.
Perhaps rom-coms will see a resurgence soon as studios realize audiences want more than spandex?
As it is Halloween weekend, horror flicks naturally dominate the Weekend Box Office Top 5.
Debuting this weekend is ‘Prey for the Devil’, the latest in the exorcism sub-genre of horror. Starring Jacqueline Byers, Christian Navarro and Virgina Madsen compelled a quaint $7 million out of ticket buyers. Will it continue to haunt audiences next weekend? Perhaps.
‘Smile’, the hit horror flick starring Sosie Bacon, daughter of Kevin Bacon, continues to make cheddar by frightening up $5 million after 5 weeks in theaters.
Finally, ‘Halloween Ends’ brings the Weekend Box Office Top 5 to a close for October. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, the fright fest stabbed into $4.8 million in its third week. Suffering from lackluster word of mouth and a day and date release on streaming, it’s a good thing the genre enjoys never ending sequels or it really could be ‘Halloween Ends’.
The box office won’t rock much next weekend despite Godzilla and ‘Armageddon Time’.
Awards hopeful ‘Armageddon Time’ is the only wide release next Friday. Director James Gray throws his hat in the ring of memory pieces, a subgenre popular with top directors in recent years. Starring Anne Hathaway and Anthony Hopkins the film might be able to score some nominations in the coming months.
‘Armageddon Time’ joins the memory pieces of directors Alfonso Cuaron (‘Roma’), Quentin Tarantino (‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’), and Steven Spielberg (‘The Fabelmans’).
For those lucky enough, there is a limited rerelease of ‘Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla’ hitting screens next weekend. The 1974 kaiju film directed by Jun Fukuda will be a treat for anyone whose local theater is savvy enough to program it.
Until then, don’t expect the Weekend Box Office Top 5 to surpass $100 million until November 11 when Marvel’s ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ blasts onto screens.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TOP 5 (October 28 – 30, 2022)
- ‘Black Adam’ – $27.7 million – fantasy (drop $39.3 million, 59% down)
- ‘Ticket to Paradise’ – $10 million – romance (drop $6.3 million, 39% down)
- ‘Prey for the Devil’ – $7 million – horror (debut)
- ‘Smile’ – $5 million – horror (drop $3.4 million, 40% down)
- ‘Halloween Ends’ – $3.8 million – horror (drop $4.2 million, 53% down)
Total for the Weekend Box Office Top 5 comes to $53.5 million. This is a drop of $50.4 million, a 49% decline, from last weekend’s total of $103.9 million.