Key Takeaways
Total 3-Day Weekend Gross:
$76,138,323 | +2.1% Last Week / -18.2% Weekend 39, 2024
The Warner Bros. box office hot streak continues with another #1 debut, taking a big swing with Paul Thomas Anderson’s original One Battle After Another, which posted a $22.4M opening weekend to top an otherwise slow weekend. Unfortunately, Universal and DreamWorks Animation targeted too young an audience with Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, which was only able to pony up a $13.7M second-place bow. Although the overall BO total is slightly above last week, year-over-year we’re still down from this frame in 2024 when DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot topped the list with $35.79M, or 2.6X what Gabby’s Dollhouse opened to this week.
- Top Title: One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) | $22.4M / 3,634 Screens / $6,164 PSA | Week 1
- Top Opener: One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) | $22.4M / 3,634 Screens / $6,164 PSA | Week 1
- Best PSA: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (20th Century Studios) | $135K / 15 Screens / $9,000 PSA | Week 1
Highlights From the Weekend
1. One Battle After Another
Warner Bros. | NEW
$22.4M 3-Day Opening Weekend | $48.5M Global Total
Warner Bros. has now given acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson two things he’s never had in his three-decade career: a reported $100M+ budget and a #1 opening at the box office. The wild action dramedy One Battle After Another came in at the higher end of expectations with an estimated $22.4M on 3,634 screens for a $6,164 Per Screen Average. To put that in perspective, $22.4M is also equal to or more than the domestic lifetime gross of any but two of PTA’s films (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood). For star Leonardo DiCaprio that’s on-par with the opening of 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon ($23.25M).
As expected, premium formats dominated on this title, representing 51% of business from IMAX and Dolby Cinema, 70MM, VistaVision, PLFs, and Motion Seating. IMAX screens specifically earned $4.6M from North American from 412 locations, including 9 in 1570 film format, which is 21% of the overall domestic total. The film took $7.5M globally in IMAX format.
For the studio, it was yet another win in a banner year where they are now the only studio to cross $4 billion globally in 2025. PTA has also delivered them a surefire Oscar contender with a 96% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes critical score on top of an 85% audience reaction, “A” CinemaScore, and 4 1⁄2 stars out of 5 via PostTrak. With tentpole competition scarce until Tron: Ares on October 10, One Battle After Another is also likely to hold steady even with The Smashing Machine opening in the next frame.
One Battle After Another – Opening Weekend
Top Ten Locations – North America
1. AMC Lincoln Square New York
2. Regal Union Square New York
3. AMC Universal Citywalk Los Angeles
4. Vista Los Angeles
5. AMC Burbank
6. AMC Grove Los Angeles
7. AMC Century City Los Angeles
8. AMC Metreon San Francisco
9. Music Box Theatre Chicago
10. Coolidge Corner Theatre Boston
One Battle After Another – Opening Weekend
Top Ten DMAs – North America
1. Los Angeles
2. New York
3. San Francisco
4. Chicago
5. Washington DC
6. Toronto
7. Dallas
8. Boston
9. Philadelphia
10. Atlanta
One Battle After Another did slightly better internationally with an estimated $26.1M from 74 overseas markets on 11,800+ screens for a global total of $48.5M. A few key territories have yet to open, including Korea (Oct 1), Japan (Oct 3), Turkey (Oct 3), and China (Oct 17).
One Battle After Another – Opening Weekend
Top Ten Overseas Markets
1. United Kingdom | $3.4m
2. France | $3.4m
3. Germany | $2.0m
4. Italy | $1.4m
5. Saudi Arabia | $1.3m
6. Australia | $1.3m
7. Mexico | $1.1m
8. Spain | $1.1m
9. Holland | $994k
10. United Arab Emirates | $802k
2. Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie
Universal Pictures | NEW
$13.7M 3-Day Opening Weekend | $19.37M Global Total
Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie brought the cuteness but didn’t bring the box office heat as it opened at #2 to an estimated $13.7M from 3,500 locations for a $3,914 PSA. This number, below our panel’s low-end estimates, is in the same league as February’s Paddington in Peru ($12.7M debut/$45.77M domestic total), though better than July’s Smurfs ($11M opening/$31M domestic total).
The good news is the clear runway for family movies until Wicked For Good and Zootopia 2 in November. Good word of mouth (“A+” CinemaScore and 95% RT audience score) on top of positive leaning critical (80% RT) means this one could have legs despite a narrow audience.
Here’s how the 3-Day looked…
- Friday – $4.37 million
- Saturday – $5.52 million
- Sunday – $3.81 million
The audience was 73% female, with the only major age groups being under 12 (40%) and younger parents 25-44 (44%). Here’s how demographics looked…
- Caucasian – 43%
- Hispanic – 37%
- African American – 11%
- NATAM/Other – 5%
- Asian – 4%
While the TV version of Gabby is currently the most viewed streaming series for kids, the film was a little too solidly aimed at the kiddie crowd, not only alienating general audiences but also older kids (the show’s core audience is 2-7). While Kristen Wiig was there for a few very mild grown-up jokes, the film just didn’t straddle the same satiric line that DreamWorks’ all-ages movies like Shrek, Trolls, or Kung Fu Panda do. This was for the tots all the way, but should be good synergy with the new season of the show on Netflix in November.
After a soft opening in New Zealand last week, Gabby’s Dollhouse took in $5.67M from 37 overseas territories across 4,800 screens for a global total of $19.37M. Top 3 markets were Australia ($1.1M), Mexico ($1.1M), and Italy ($925K). All other markets reported grosses under $300K.
Other Notable Performances
Lionsgate released The Strangers: Chapter 2 to little fanfare as the horror film opened to an estimated $5.9M from 2,690 locations for a $2,193 PSA. The middle part in director Renny Harlin‘s trilogy (the third is due out next year) had the lowest opening in the Strangers franchise while doing exactly half the business Chapter 1 debuted to last summer. Reviews were poor at 18% RT critical (the first was 21%), while a 59% audience score and “C-” CinemaScore engender limited momentum for the third part.
Next Weekend
A24 is setting Dwayne Johnson up for an Oscar run in The Smashing Machine, the true story of MMA fighter Mark Kerr. Based on John Hyams’ documentary of the same name, the film is helmed by Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems) in his first solo directing effort away from brother Josh (who has Marty Supreme this Christmas). Focus Features brings the return of master thespian Daniel Day-Lewis in the psychological drama Anemone, directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis. That film premieres today at the New York Film Festival.
Sunday Studio Estimates | Weekend 39 – 2025
Total 3-Day Domestic Gross: $76,138,323 | (-18.2% vs 2024)
| Title | Weekend Estimate | % Change | Locations | Location Change | PSA | Domestic Total | Week | Distributor |
| One Battle After Another | $22,400,000 | 3,634 | $6,164 | 22,400,000 | 1 | Warner Bros. | ||
| Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie | $13,700,000 | 3,500 | $3,914 | 13,700,000 | 1 | Universal | ||
| Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Infi… | $7,100,000 | -59% | 2,984 | -358 | $2,379 | 118,176,000 | 3 | Sony Pictures |
| The Conjuring: Last Rites | $6,860,000 | -44% | 3,083 | -330 | $2,225 | 161,454,000 | 4 | Warner Bros. |
| The Strangers: Chapter 2 | $5,900,000 | 2,690 | $2,193 | 5,900,000 | 1 | Lionsgate | ||
| Him | $3,650,000 | -72% | 3,168 | n/c | $1,152 | 20,794,000 | 2 | Universal |
| The Long Walk | $3,400,000 | -45% | 2,297 | -548 | $1,480 | 28,814,237 | 3 | Lionsgate |
| Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale | $3,300,000 | -48% | 2,829 | -882 | $1,166 | 39,008,000 | 3 | Focus Features |
| They Call Him OG | $1,400,000 | 800 | $1,750 | 5,200,000 | 1 | Prathyangira… | ||
| A Big Bold Beautiful Journey | $1,250,000 | -62% | 3,330 | n/c | $375 | 5,923,000 | 2 | Sony Pictures |
| Spider-Man 2 | $1,113,472 | 1,484 | $750 | 375,828,527 | 1,109 | Sony Pictures | ||
| Dead of Winter | $1,054,000 | 605 | $1,742 | 1,054,000 | 1 | Vertical Ent… | ||
| Eleanor the Great | $860,000 | 892 | $964 | 860,000 | 1 | Sony Picture… | ||
| Spider-Man | $737,505 | 1,485 | $497 | 405,930,363 | 1,222 | Sony Pictures | ||
| Weapons | $455,000 | -63% | 512 | -674 | $889 | 150,656,000 | 8 | Warner Bros. |
| Freakier Friday | $410,000 | -64% | 885 | -995 | $463 | 93,741,600 | 8 | Walt Disney |
| Spider-Man 3 | $400,000 | 1,484 | $270 | 338,007,351 | 961 | Sony Pictures | ||
| The Bad Guys 2 | $352,000 | -51% | 488 | -353 | $721 | 80,888,000 | 9 | Universal |
| The Fantastic Four: First Steps | $243,000 | -61% | 300 | -330 | $810 | 273,972,764 | 10 | Walt Disney |
| Toy Story | $190,000 | -87% | 350 | -1,990 | $543 | 199,135,978 | 1,558 | Walt Disney |
| Caught Stealing | $150,000 | -54% | 652 | 139 | $230 | 18,898,000 | 5 | Sony Pictures |
| The Rocky Horror Picture Show | $135,000 | 15 | $9,000 | 114,565,797 | 2,610 | 20th Century… | ||
| Light of the World | $101,000 | -74% | 175 | -305 | $577 | 4,978,356 | 4 | Salvation Po… |
| Hamilton | $94,000 | -86% | 175 | -935 | $537 | 16,892,009 | 4 | Walt Disney |
| The History of Sound | $89,208 | -71% | 126 | -426 | $708 | 706,678 | 3 | MUBI |
| The Roses | $82,000 | -68% | 170 | -200 | $482 | 15,204,512 | 5 | Searchlight … |
| Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse | $41,781 | 8 | $5,223 | 41,781 | 76 | Hemdale | ||
| Apollo 13 | $39,000 | -94% | 100 | -100 | $390 | 174,611,000 | 1,579 | Universal |
| CatVideoFest 2025 | $5,885 | -54% | 5 | -6 | $1,177 | 1,002,506 | 9 | Oscilloscope… |
| Lilo & Stitch | 5,000 | -89% | 20 | -30 | $250 | 423,778,167 | 19 | Walt Disney |
Source link
