Three new movies were no match for the Ghost With the Most as “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” loomed large over domestic box office charts again.
Tim Burton’s spooky sequel added a stellar $51.6 million in its second weekend of release, bringing its tally to $188 million.
In terms of newcomers, “Speak No Evil,” Universal and Blumhouse’s remake of the 2022 Danish horror film, opened in second place with $11.5 million from 3,375 venues. Comedian Matt Walsh’s satire documentary “Am I Racist?” landed in fourth place with a decent $4.75 million from 1,517 theaters. Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s “The Killer’s Game” with Dave Bautista failed to connect, debuting at No. 6 with $2.6 million from 2,623 locations.
James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis star in “Speak No Evil,” a pitch-black comedy of manners about a couple who invite two friends to their vacation at their idyllic, remote home in the countryside. Reviews and audience scores have been positive, which could help with word of mouth. The film also opened internationally with $9.3 million from 73 markets for a global opening of $20.8 million.
Since “Speak No Evil” cost $15 million, it’ll be decently positioned in its theatrical run. But the movie continues a humdrum year for horror, which is usually one of the most reliable big screen genres. Recent films like Disney’s “Alien: Romulus” ($330 million) and Neon’s sleeper hit “Longlegs” ($103 million) have popped, but Blumhouse-produced offerings such as Universal’s “Night Swim” ($54 million), Lionsgate’s “Imaginary” ($39 million) and Sony’s “Afraid” ($10 million) failed to strike a nerve.
Of course, Blumhouse is known for responsible budgets, so some of those films may have managed to eke out a profit. But the absence of a major horror hit is stark because 2022 and 2023 were particularly huge for the low-budget house of scares with “Five Nights at Freddy’s” ($292 million), “Insidious 5” ($189 million), “Exorcist: Believer” ($136 million) and “M3GAN” ($180 million). In any case, analysts believe Blumhouse will return to form with 2025 sequels including “M3GAN 2.0,” “Black Phone 2” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.”
“Blumhouse sets a high standard for the genre,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “In a good year, dollar-for-dollar, Blumhouse might be the most profitable production company in the industry.”
Elsewhere, Disney and Marvel’s superhero sequel “Deadpool & Wolverine” slid to the No. 3 spot with $5.2 million from 3,075 theaters in its eighth weekend of release. The R-rated film, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, has remained in the top three for eight consecutive weeks and has grossed a mammoth $621.5 million domestically and $1.3 billion globally to date.
Dennis Quaid’s biopic “Reagan” rounded out the top five with $2.9 million from 2,450 theaters in its third weekend on the big screen. The film, which charts the life of former president Ronald Reagan, has generated $23 million to date.
More to come…