This year's Halloween weekend was particularly grim for the box office, as ticket sales took a significant hit. Without any new film releases, coupled with families focusing on trick-or-treating instead of heading to the theaters, the weekend saw revenues nearly grind to a halt. The spooky holiday coincided with a Friday, further diminishing the chances for a successful box office turnout. Additionally, the Major League Baseball championships distracted audiences, with the Los Angeles Dodgers clinching a nail-biting victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7, diverting potential moviegoers away from cinemas.
According to Comscore, revenues between Friday and Sunday amounted to a mere $43 million, marking it as the worst weekend of the year. Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends, remarked, “The cavalry cannot get here soon enough. The industry is in dire need of a boost after this scary-slow World Series-impacted, Halloween-festivity-laden weekend.” This dismal performance reflects a broader trend, with the industry experiencing a quiet post-summer moviegoing corridor.
This Halloween weekend also closed out the lowest-grossing October in 27 years, with domestic earnings stalling at an abysmal $425 million. This figure marks the poorest October haul since 1997, when earnings were $385 million, not adjusted for inflation. Notably, this record does not include 2020, when theaters were still reeling from the pandemic's impact.
Traditionally, October serves as a launching pad for studios to unveil their awards hopefuls, making the current lackluster performance all the more surprising. Big-budget tentpoles and Oscar contenders, including Dwayne Johnson’s “The Smashing Machine,” Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt,” Disney’s “Tron: Ares,” and “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” struggled to make an impact at the box office.
In a surprising twist, the Colleen Hoover adaptation “Regretting You” ascended to the top of the box office with an impressive $8.1 million from 3,424 theaters in its second weekend. Close behind was Universal’s “Black Phone 2,” which garnered $8 million from 3,305 venues. The final numbers may still shift as they await confirmation on Monday. “Regretting You” experienced only a 41% decline from its debut, accumulating a total of $27.5 million in North America and $50 million globally against its $30 million budget.
Colleen Hoover, the author of last year’s sleeper hit “It Ends With Us,” has two more novels, “Verity” and “Reminders of Him,” slated for adaptation and theatrical release in 2026. Meanwhile, “Black Phone 2” has grossed $61 million domestically and $104 million globally, making it this year’s only Blumhouse release nearing the $100 million mark.
In another close race, Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters” re-release likely tied for third place with Sony and Crunchyroll’s “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc,” both films estimated to have earned $6 million over the weekend. While Netflix has not disclosed grosses for “KPop Demon Hunters,” which played in 2,890 theaters, rival studios and exhibitors have made projections based on available data.
This marks the second big-screen outing for the animated musical, which first debuted theatrically in August and quickly became Netflix’s most popular film ever, leading to an impressive $18 million in North America. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc,” which topped the box office last weekend, has amassed $30 million in North America and is seeing greater success internationally with $109 million overseas, totaling $139 million globally.
In fifth place, “Bugonia,” the latest collaboration between director Yorgos Lanthimos and star Emma Stone, successfully expanded its reach nationwide, bringing in $4.8 million from 2,043 theaters. The film, featuring Stone as a high-powered tech CEO kidnapped by conspiracy theorists, received a “B” grade on CinemaScore exit polls. This kind of middling reception is not unusual for Lanthimos's polarizing films, which typically attract a younger male audience, with men comprising 61% of ticket buyers.
Additionally, classic films made a return to theaters. “Back to the Future” celebrated its 40th anniversary with a respectable $4.7 million haul from 2,105 theaters. Meanwhile, “The Twilight Saga” returned to the big screen to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first novel's release, accounting for approximately $3 million from 1,500 locations over the weekend.
As we look to the coming weekends, Disney’s “Predator: Badlands” is set to debut, followed by the heist threequel “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” and the remake of “The Running Man” directed by Edgar Wright and starring Glen Powell. However, significant business may not return until the Thanksgiving corridor, with Disney’s “Zootopia 2” and Universal’s “Wicked: For Good” expected to make a splash in theaters. James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is anticipated to close out the year with a bang on December 19.
“Early November releases will be most welcome,” Dergarabedian noted. “But mid-November through New Year’s Eve will be vitally important for the industry.”
