By Chris Kavan - 10/12/22 at 11:41 AM CT
Once again the box office was spared a complete meltdown thanks to Smile as the horror film had an exceptional second-week hold. New film Lyle, Lyle Crocodile took a dainty bite out of the box office while David O. Russell's star-studded Amsterdam was a complete disaster. On the ratings front we have a dark version of a classic fairytale from a master of horror, a big comeback for an out-of-the-spotlight actor and a new anime title that should be another success.
First, though, let's talk about Smile. After its $22.6 million opening helped keep the box office afloat, the horror film once again put on a happy face with a $18.46 million second weekend. That represents just a 18.3% drop - the best second-week hold of the year and the best hold for a horror film since Jordon Peele's Get Out (which dipped 15% in its second weekend back in 2017). That also means Smile topped $50 million with a $50.7 million total and is running ahead of The Black Phone ($47.4 million) though the same time period. We'll see how Halloween Ends affects its numbers but Black Phone wound up with nearly $90 million and even with competition Smile has a good chance at topping $100 million domestic. It had already topped $90 million worldwide at this point. After nearly becoming a straight-to-streaming title for Paramount, the decision for a theatrical release looks like it was a great choice.
In second place the family-friendly Lyle, Lyle Crocodile came in on the lower end of expectations with an $11.4 million opening. The part musical, part family drama features Constance Wu, Scoot McNairy and Winslow Fegley as the Primm family who discover their new neighbor happens to be a highly-talented singing crocodile (voiced by Shawn Mendes) who, despite his fearsome appearance, is a loveable guy. Javier Bardem plays Lyle's owner, the show-stopping Hector P. Valenti while Brett Gelman plays Mr. Grumps, a decidedly anti-crocodile overly-concerned man who thinks Lyle is better suited to a zoo. Despite being one of the only family-oriented films out there, Lyle wasn't exactly a huge hit with an okay 71% Fresh rating and decent "A-" Cinemascore. It does look to be the family option through Thanksgiving and should play out similar to Clifford the Big Red Dog - which opened to $16.6 million on its way to $49.9 million domestic. With a little help overseas perhaps this $50 million venture might make it to the black - but it won't be by much.
The same can't be said for David O. Russell's Amsterdam. Despite an all-star cast featuring Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Andrea Riseborough, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Michael Shannon, Rami Malek, Mike Myers, Alessandro Nivola, Matthias Schoenaerts, Zoe Saldana, Timothy Olyphant, Taylor Swift AND Robert De Niro - critics savaged it with just a 32% Rotten Rating and audiences were underwhelmed with a "B" Cinemascore. This led to just a $6.44 million opening for a film in the $80 million range - one of the biggest flops of the year. Russell actually has a good track record - but his last major film was in 2015 with Joy and this offbeat story and character study may have been a bit too out there for mainstream audiences and adults still aren't showing up in huge numbers. With just $3.5 million international, overseas sales aren't going to save this one, either and it looks like Amsterdam is a major letdown.
In the fourth-place spot The Woman King had another great hold with just a 24.1% dip in its fourth weekend out, winding up with $5.17 million and crossing the $50 million mark with a new $54 million total. It is still rolling out slowly in the international markets with $10 million so far. Between the two, the film should wind up about doubling its $50 million budget and still looks to be a major player come awards season.
Rounding out the top five, Don't Worry Darling fell about 49% to bring in $3.5 million for a new total of $38.47 million. After a hot start the film has fallen quite precipitously and those looking to see what all the behind-the-scenes drama had wrought must have been sated on its opening weekend. The Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Olivia Wilde and Chris Pine feature might claw its way to $50 million. Still, with $69.3 million worldwide, the $35 million picture should wind up mildly profitable in the end.
Outside the top five: Gaining some of the best reviews of her career, Cate Blanchett - along with director Todd Field (in his first film in 15 years) had the second-best limited per-theater offering with Tár, which opened in just four theater with a $158,620 and a $39,655 per-theater average. Following the story of composer-conductor Lydia Tár, the film bears witness to her success and struggles. The film will continue to expand before going wide at the end of the month.
Also having a decent limited opening was Ruben Östlund's first English-language film Triangle of Sadness, which skewer's the rich as an opulent yacht voyage turns into a disaster. The film played in 10 theaters where it opened with $214,602 for a $21,460 per-theater average.
Next week brings us Halloween Ends, which should provide the box office with a boost along with Smile continuing the holiday horror festivities.
On the ratings front we have a nice mix of genres including another anime offering, a darker version of a classic tale and a long-awaited return that has garnered much praise.
Guillermo del Toro has never been one to shy away from darkness be it Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, Crimson Peak or Nightmare Alley. Now he's turning his attention to a classic tale in Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. The name in front of the title is likely to differentiate it from Disney's version (starring Tom Hanks and Joseph Gordon-Levitt) that was released on the streaming service earlier this year. Del Toro's stop-motion animated version - along with co-director Mark Gustafson - sticks much closer to the original tale - which is to say it's a bit darker than a typical family film. The story remains the same, lonely woodcutter Geppetto (David Bradley) longs for a real son only to find his wish comes true when a wooden marionette is brought to life but Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) gets into a lot of mischief along the way. His friend, Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor) is along for the ride. Taking place in the 1930s, in fascist Italy no less, the rowdy puppet runs afoul of Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz) and Podesta (Ron Perlman) but finds friends in bully-turned-buddy Candlewick (Finn Wolfhard) and Volpe's harried monkey assistant Spazzatura (Cate Blanchett). Even del Toro's lesser efforts bear good fruit and I'm all about seeing how this turns out. While it will be streaming on Netflix, expect at least a limited run in theaters first. Rated PG for for dark thematic material, violence, peril, some rude humor and brief
smoking.
Speaking of directors known for dark visions, Darren Aronofsky has provided plenty himself from Pi to Requiem for a Dream to The Wrestler to the divisive Mother! Now he's back with The Whale and much praise has been given to the film, along with main star Brendan Fraser who has long been out of the Hollywood spotlight but has been welcomed back warmly. Fraser plays Charlie, a severely overweight man who seems to be eating himself to death following a fallout with his wife, Mary (Samantha Morton) and estranged daughter, Ellie (Stranger Things standout Sadie Sink). While he still teaches English via online classes, his only real contact seems to be with his nurse, Liz (Hong Chau) who struggles to get him to come to terms with his habits. Empathy and emotion drive the film and even if Fraser is made up in prosthetics, he has been given a lot of credit for making the film work and this has rightfully been hailed as a major comeback for the actor. While mostly appearing on the festival circuit for now (it made its major splash at the Venice Film Festival) it is certain The Whale will see a wider audience somewhere down the line. Rated R for language, some drug use and sexual content.
While I haven't been into Anime for a fair bit of time now, one just has to look at the box office returns for the likes of My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer and Dragon Ball Super to know that the genre has no problem reaching wide audiences. I don't know much about One Piece Film: Red but I know that One Piece remains a titan in both the manga and anime world and that this film should be on the same level as the previously-mentioned titles. One Piece follows a pirate crew The Straw Hats led by rubberman Monkey D. Luffy along with Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Nico Robin, Usopp and Tony Tony Chopper among others. Red follows the rise of Uta - a world-renowned singer known for both her angelic voice and the fact she conceals her appearance - as she reveals herself to the world - and where Luffy recognizes her as daughter of the red-haired pirate Shanks (his idol who inspired him to become a pirate) as well as a childhood friend - much to the surprise of everyone around him. With songs provided by popular Japanese singer Ado, Red is already the top-grossing 2022 film in Japan as well as the highest-grossing One Piece film to date - it has spend ten consecutive weeks in the first-place position thus far. It has been a hit in France, Taiwan, China and Thailand - and has grossed over $133 million in just those five territories so far. It is expected to be released in November and I'm sure it will be a hit here as well. Rated PG-13 for violence, suggestive material and language.
Those are the big three for this week but you can check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below:
BOTTOMS
Rated R for crude sexual content, pervasive language and some violence.
THE DIVINE PROTECTOR - MASTER SALT BEGINS
Rated PG-13 for thematic content and some violence.
EILEEN
Rated R for violent content, sexual content and language.
EXPLORER
Rated PG-13 for strong language, some thematic elements and disturbing images.
GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO
Rated PG for dark thematic material, violence, peril, some rude humor and brief smoking.
THE LAST MANHUNT
Rated R for some violence and language.
MAYBE I DO
Rated PG-13 for sexually suggestive material and brief strong language.
MUST LOVE CHRISTMAS
Rated PG for mild thematic elements.
ONE FINE MORNING
Rated R for some sexuality, nudity and language.
ONE PIECE FILM: RED
Rated PG-13 for violence, suggestive material and language. (Dubbed and Subbed Versions).
SHADOW MASTER
Rated R for strong/bloody violence and language.
SOFT & QUIET
Rated R for disturbing racial violence including rape and pervasive language including offensive slurs.
THE WHALE
Rated R for language, some drug use and sexual content.
WHEN CHRISTMAS WAS YOUNG
Rated PG for mild language.
