‘Black Phone 2’ opens with $26.5 million to lead box office

LOS ANGELES – Blumhouse’s horror film “Black Phone 2” took advantage of its Halloween-season release, grossing $26.5 million this weekend to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

The sequel to 2021’s “The Black Phone,” which like the new film starred Ethan Hawke as “The Grabber,” beat out last weekend’s top-grossing film, “Tron: Ares,” which made $11.1 million in its second weekend, Comscore reported.

“Good Fortune,” a comedy written and directed by Aziz Ansari, who also stars with Keke Palmer, Seth Rogan and Keanu Reeves,

“One Battle After Another” grossed $4 million Friday through Sunday in its fourth week, followed by “Roofman,” which took in $3.7 million in its second weekend.

Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “Truth & Treason” ($2.7 million), “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie” ($1.6 million), “The Conjuring: Last Rites” ($1.57 million), “After the Hunt” ($1.55 million) and “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — the Movie Infinity Castle” ($1.3 million).

This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $67.4 million. The year to-date total is $6.866 billion — up 3.6% from the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.

‘Black Phone 2’

Though “Black Phone 2” opened in line with expectations, moviegoing in October continues to be slow — down about 11% from last year, according to Comscore.

The overall box office is still up about 4% compared with last year, but a big blockbuster hit that could spark more momentum might not arrive until late November or December.

Universal Pictures released “Black Phone 2” in 3,411 theaters in North America on a wave of good reviews. Coming four years after the original, the sequel sees the return of filmmaker Scott Derrickson, as well as stars Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames.

With an additional $15.5 million from 71 international territories, “Black Phone 2” had a $42 million worldwide launch against a reported $30 million production budget.

“It’s a fantastic opening,” said Jim Orr, who heads Universal’s domestic distribution. “Our great partners in Scott Derrickson and Blumhouse once again took this property and crafted an unbelievably haunting, chilling story that audiences just simply couldn’t get enough of.”

The horror genre in general has soared to record-breaking heights this year, with hits like “Weapons” and the multi-genre “Sinners,” generating over $1.2 billion for the industry, noted Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends. (With CNS and AP reports)

The post ‘Black Phone 2’ opens with $26.5 million to lead box office appeared first on USNewsRank.