Strange World, Armageddon Time and More in This Week's MPAA Ratings Bulletin

By Chris Kavan - 10/05/22 at 12:43 PM CT

Horror once again reigned supreme at this weekend's box office, but smile didn't have quite enough power to turn a frown upside down as Bros failed to spark much interest. On the ratings side of things, we have a couple of heavy hitters coming our way, including the latest animated offering from Disney.

Horror has been striking it big at the box office and with October, and with it Halloween (both the holiday and the film) on the horizon, this genre is killing it at the box office. This weekend's big winner was Smile. The creepy offering about a curse that smiles back at you had a great $22.6 million opening - the best opening since Bullet Train two months ago and topping the more recent openings for The Woman King and Don't Worry Darling. Originally planned as a straight-to-streaming title, strong audience response pushed this into a wide theatrical opening and it looks like it was the right choice. With a "B-" Cinemascore and 75% Fresh from Rotten Tomatoes - it is also on the high end for a horror title. Barbarian continues to play well so we'll see if the October scares can keep this one riding high through the month. It also earned $14.5 million overseas and with a reported $17 million cost it has already hit over $34 million worldwide and looks to be another small-budget horror homerun.

Despite one big Smile, the rest of the box office was otherwise not a happy affair. As expected after its front-loaded opening, Don't Worry Darling suffered a pretty massive 64.6% drop off and still landed in second with $6.84 million for a new total of just over $32.3 million. While a big drop was pretty much guaranteed, I'm guessing the studio was hoping for a bit of a better hold but all the news surrounding the drama behind the scenes couldn't sustain this curio beyond the opening weekend. It held up a bit better internationally with $21.9 million total now, so its global total has hit $54 million at least. The $35 million film should make a minor profit but isn't going to be a phenomena.

In third place, The Woman King nearly managed to top Don't Worry Darling with $6.82 million but fell just short. Dipping 38%, the well-received historical drama has now hit $46.5 million and will top $50 million by next weekend. With a reported $50 million budget, it should also post a modest profit by the time everything is added up.

In fourth place the re-release of Avatar has enough oomph to take down Bros with a $5 million weekend and a near $19 million total. Avatar has already made all the money in the world but even with a 52% dip, it is still a strong hold for a re-release and once again points to the upcoming Way of Water looking to make a huge splash at the box office.

Rounding out the top five was the weekend's biggest whiff as Bros, Billy Eichner's and Luke Macfarlane's mainstream and major studio LGBTQ rom-com failed to make an impact with just $4.85 million. That is less than the opening for Easter Sunday ($5.4 million) which, thus far, has just $13 million to its name. This is despite an "A" Cinemascore and a 91% Fresh Rating - people seem to really like it - it's just that not many showed up. Whether the film pushed its same-sex historic angle too much or that the lack of star power hurt it, Bros can't be seen as anything other than a disappointment at a time when the box office needs more than a single hit per weekend to keep things going.

Outside the top five: Winning the best per-theater average of the week - and nearly topping Bros, was the Tamil-language film Ponniyin Selvan: I with just over $4 million in 500 theaters for an impressive $8,036 per-theater average. The first in a two-part film series, the second half will drop some time next year.

Onto the ratings front where we once again have a small-ish offering, but enough to whet the appetite for the time being.

MPAA Official Logo

Our sole wide release for this update is Disney's next big animated foray Strange World. Directed by Don Hall (Big Hero 6, Moana, Raya and the Last Dragon), the visually-stunning adventure follows the legendary explorer Clade family as they take on their most daring mission yet. Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid) is the rip-roaring leader of the clan but his son, Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) is not exactly the adventurous type, more of a family man. But he finds himself on the mission along with his wife - and accomplished pilot - Meridian (Gabrielle Union) and his son, Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) who wants nothing more than to experience adventure for himself. Throw in a mischievous blob named Splat and a three-legged dog for good measure. If the family can learn to accept their differences and work as a unit the mission is sure to succeed - but that is easier said than done. Inspired by the pulp adventures of the early 20th century, Strange World certainly has one of the most unique looks out of Disney's long line of animated films. I like it a lot! I hope it's good enough for adults as well as the kids and should be a pretty interesting ride. Rated PG for action/peril and some thematic elements.

On the serious side of things we have a story of immigration, the American Dream and a coming-of-age story with a heavy dollop of classism and racisms from James Gray, Armageddon Time. The follows the Graff family - three generations as represented by Grandpa Aaron Rabinowitz (Anthony Hopkins), his son Irving (Jeremy Strong) and wife Esther (Anne Hathaway) and their young son, Paul (Banks Repeta). Taking place in the 80s, it looks to encapsulate the period perfectly and when Paul makes friends with Johnny Davis (Jaylin Webb), a young, black classmate, it upends his world and opens his eyes to a wider divide between what he want and what others, including his parents, want for him. It looks riveting and the casting is impressive - the film also features Tovah Feldshuh, Jessica Chastain, John Diehl, Ryan Sell and Andrew Polk. Gray is no stranger to this kind of drama, having also directed the likes of Little Odessa, The Yards, The Immigrant and Ad Astra among others. It played well at Cannes, we'll see if adult audiences support this one when it comes out in November. Rated R for language and some drug use involving minors.

Those are the two big offerings for the week but you can check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below:

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

Rated PG for mild violence and rude material.


AMERICANISH

Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material and language.


ARMAGEDDON TIME

Rated R for language and some drug use involving minors.


ASSASSIN CLUB

Rated R for violent content and language.


BATTLE FOR SAIPAN

Rated R for strong violence, bloody images and some language.


BED REST

Rated R for some language.


A CHRISTMAS MYSTERY

Rated PG for mild thematic material.


DEAR DAVID

Rated R for violent content, language and a sexual reference.


FOUR SAMOSAS

Rated PG-13 for some language and a rude gesture.


MARLOWE

Rated R for language, violent content, some sexual material and brief drug use.


PARADISE CITY

Rated R for violence and language.


SELENA GOMEZ: MY MIND AND ME

Rated R for language.


THE SON

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content involving suicide, and strong language.


STRANGE WORLD

Rated PG for action/peril and some thematic elements.

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