Paramount and Constantin Films’ romance-drama Regretting You — the second Colleen Hoover book adaptation to hit the big screen after It Ends With Us — is proclaiming itself the victor of this year’s Halloween box office contest.
According to Sunday estimates from Paramount, Regretting You placed No. 1 with $8.1 million from 3,245 cinemas in its sophomore outing.
Or did it? Universal is likewise estimating a first-place finish for Blumhouse’s Black Phone 2 with $8 million from 3,425 cinemas (rival studios also show the horror sequel, now in its third weekend, coming in ahead of Regretting You).
But last weekend, Black Phone 2 and Regretting You did switch positions when final numbers came in, with Regretting You beating the Blumhouse pic. Monday will determine the correct order of the Oct. 31-Nov. 2 frame, and whether Paramount was being too bullish.
Generally in such situations, a studio in Universal’s position would call the contest a tie, but in this case, no one is complaining, considering overall ticket sales for the weekend came in at $49.8 million — the worst showing of the year to date.
But that’s not the most frightening fact — it was the lowest-grossing Halloween weekend in 31 years, according to Comscore. This excludes 2020, when the COVID-19 crisis forced theater closures for months.
The last time Halloween weekend revenue came in lower was in 1993, when combined ticket sales reached $49.2 million, not adjusted for inflation, according to Paul Dergarabedian at Comscore.
This year’s Halloween weekend meltdown — which follows the worst October in 27 years — is due to the lack of a big commercial title on the marquee, such as 2024’s Venom: The Last Dance. This year, exhibitors had to rely on an ecclectic batch of holdovers, rereleases, including Back to the Future, and the expansion of Focus Features’ awards darling and specialty offering Bugonia.
Halloween is alway a tough holiday for Hollywood and cinema owners, especially when the actual day falls on a Friday, as it did this year. Regretting You took a major hit on Friday since its target audience — younger females — were otherwise occupied. On Saturday, sales spiked 200 percent.
Domestically, Regretting You has earned $27.5 million in its first 10 days. Overseas, it earned another $8.2 million for foreign tally of $23.3 million and $50.8 million globally.
Black Phone 2, a major win for Blumhouse, sailed past the $104 million mark over the weekend after finishing Sunday with a domestic tally of $61.5 million and $43.3 million internationally, including a weekend haul of $7.3 million.
As expected, the acclaimed Japanese manga pic Chainsaw Man – the Movie: Reze Arc fell off steeply in its second weekend of play at the domestic box office, declining 67 percent to $6 million for a 10-day domestic tally of $30.8 and a dazzling $139 million globally. Sony’s Crunchyroll division is handling the film in the U.S. and an number of foreign markets, excluding Japan. It’s share of the total gross is $87.4 million.
Bugonia, from Focus Features, placed No. 4 with $4.8 million as it expanded into 2,043 theaters. That is the widest count ever for a film directed by and Yorgos Lanthimos. Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons lead the high-profile cast.
More to come.
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