{"id":35771,"date":"2025-09-22T00:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T00:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/35771\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T00:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T00:27:10","slug":"after-two-big-weekends-the-north-american-box-office-takes-a-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/35771\/","title":{"rendered":"After two big weekends, the North American box office takes a hit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neither a Jordan Peele-produced horror<\/a> nor a Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell romantic drama were enough to continue the September hot streak<\/a> at the movies. After back-to-back weekends that had films majorly overperforming, first \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rights\u201d<\/a> followed by the anime \u201cDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle,\u201d<\/a> the North American box office slowed significantly.<\/p>\n

Overall ticket sales were down nearly 50% from last weekend, with the holdover champion \u201cDemon Slayer\u201d edging out the newcomer \u201cHim\u201d for first place, according to studio estimates Sunday. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures\u2019 \u201cDemon Slayer\u201d added $17.3 million over the weekend, bringing its total to $104.7 million, which makes it the highest grossing anime film ever in North America.<\/p>\n

The football horror \u201cHim\u201d<\/a> opened in second place with an estimated $13.5 million in ticket sales. Universal Pictures opened \u201cHim\u201d in 3,168 North American theaters, where the audience was 52% male and 65% over the age of 25. Internationally, it earned $400,000.<\/p>\n

Produced by Peele\u2019s Monkeypaw and directed by Justin Tipping, \u201cHim\u201d is about a promising young quarterback (Tyriq Withers) who is invited to train with a veteran (Marlon Wayans) at an isolated compound.<\/p>\n

\u201cHim\u201d scored with neither critics (it carries a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes) nor audiences, who gave the film a C- CinemaScore. In his review for The Associated Press, film writer Jake Coyle wrote that the film \u201cwas made with the potent premise of bringing the kind of dark, satirical perspective that characterizes a Monkeypaw production to our violent national pastime. But that promise gets fumbled in an allegorical chamber play that grows increasingly tedious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHim\u201d was also nearly upstaged by another horror, \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rights,\u201d which made an estimated $13 million in its third weekend. With a global total of $400 million, it\u2019s now the biggest film in the Conjuring universe.<\/p>\n

They are two of three horror movies in this weekend’s top 10, including \u201cWeapons.\u201d According to data firm Comscore, this year that genre alone has generated $1.1 billion in domestic box office receipts, just several million short of the 2017 record driven by \u201cIt\u201d and \u201cGet Out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHorror movies have been on a bit of a hot streak,\u201d said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a record-breaking year.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to \u201cDemon Slayer,\u201d Sony had a new film this weekend as well: The original romance \u201cA Big Bold Beautiful Journey,\u201d starring Robbie and Farrell, but that fizzled with audiences, earning only $3.5 million from 3,300 locations. It also received largely negative reviews and currently has a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAudiences are selective in what they want to see,\u201d Dergarabedian said. \u201cNegative reviews can create really strong headwinds for original films with no brand recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its second weekend, \u201cDownton Abbey: The Grand Finale\u201d<\/a> added another $6.3 million, bringing its running total to $31.6 million. The Stephen King adaptation \u201cThe Long Walk\u201d is also estimating $6.3 million in weekend two, down only 46% from its opening. Its domestic total of $22.7 million has already exceeded its production budget of $20 million (though that sum does not account for marketing and promotion).<\/p>\n

Ron Howard\u2019s 1995 hit \u201cApollo 13\u201d played in 200 theaters this weekend for its 30th anniversary as well. It made an estimated $600,000. The 30th anniversary re-release of \u201cToy Story,\u201d now in its second weekend, added $1.4 million.<\/p>\n

Next weekend there is excitement surrounding the new Paul Thomas Anderson film \u201cOne Battle After Another,”<\/a> although his biggest hit to date remains the 2007 film \u201cThere Will Be Blood,\u201d which made just over $76 million worldwide, not accounting for inflation.<\/p>\n

And right on its heels is a very different kind of cinema experience: AMC Theaters is hosting a release party for Taylor Swift\u2019s<\/a> 12th studio album, \u201c The Life of a Showgirl<\/a>.” The 90-minute show, aptly titled \u201cThe Official Release Party of a Showgirl,\u201d will play at all 540 AMC theaters in the U.S. from Oct. 3 through Oct. 5.<\/p>\n

Top 10 movies by domestic box office<\/p>\n

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:<\/p>\n

1. \u201cDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2013 Infinity Castle\u201d $17.3 million<\/p>\n

2. \u201cHim,\u201d $13.5 million.<\/p>\n

3. \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites,\u201d $13 million.<\/p>\n

4. (tie) \u201cThe Long Walk,\u201d $6.3 million.<\/p>\n

4. (tie) \u201cDownton Abbey: The Grand Finale,\u201d $6.3 million.<\/p>\n

6. \u201cA Big Bold Beautiful Journey,\u201d $3.5 million.<\/p>\n

7. \u201cThe Senior,\u201d $2.8 million.<\/p>\n

8. \u201cToy Story\u201d (30th Anniversary re-release), $1.4 million.<\/p>\n

9. \u201cSight & Sound Presents: NOAH – Live!\u201d $1.4 million.<\/p>\n

10. \u201cWeapons,\u201d $1.3 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Neither a Jordan Peele-produced horror nor a Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell romantic drama were enough to continue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[5784,18567,17688,156,33254,18566,409,111,139,33257,69,33255,33256,4767],"class_list":{"0":"post-35771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-box-office","9":"tag-colin-farrell","10":"tag-demon-slayer","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-horror-movies","13":"tag-margot-robbie","14":"tag-movies","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-newzealand","17":"tag-north-american","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-paul-dergarabedian","20":"tag-ticket-sales","21":"tag-weekend"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}