Weekend Box Office (October 26 - 28, 2018)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND There were no changes to the gold, silver, and bronze winners as the top films remained the same as last week's with the horror sensation Halloween once again being the most popular choice among North American moviegoers. Universal's runaway hit dropped 58%, a reasonable figure for a horror franchise pic with a built-in audience, and grossed an estimated $32M in its sophomore session.

The cume has climbed to a robust $126.7M and reaching the vicinity of $175M is possible depending on how it fares once October 31st passes. Dozens of overseas markets opened contributing $25.6M this weekend boosting the global take to $172.3M with a lucrative Halloween holiday week ahead. All this with a modest $10M production budget.

Enjoying the second lowest decline of any film in the top ten was the music-driven smash A Star is Born which dipped only 26% in its fourth round to an estimated $14.1M. The Warner Bros. hit has spent every week of its run in second place and has risen to $148.7M heading to $190M or possibly $200M from North America. International grosses have risen to $104.6M putting the current global take at $253.3M with much more to come.

Off 40% in its fourth weekend was former number one Venom with an estimated $10.8M which boosted Sony's sum to a sturdy $187.3M surpassing the first Thor, Ant-Man, and Captain America movies. The Tom Hardy hit is now the third biggest movie of all-time to come out of October behind only Gravity ($274.1M) and The Martian ($228.4M). A domestic finish of about $210M seems likely which would put it just a bit behind the $216.6M of the last MCU film Ant-Man and the Wasp. Worldwide, Venom broke $500M this weekend with $17.3M from international markets and $508.4M global with China still to come on November 9 which could send the final tally to the $650M neighborhood.

The top three films have now banked a stunning $462.7M to date domestically and over $900M worldwide redefining what is possible at the box office in October which historically has been one of the slower months on the calendar. Studios planted big titles in the month and are now enjoying a bountiful harvest. Families found Halloween fun again with the sequel Goosebumps 2 which slipped only 23% to an estimated $7.5M giving Sony $38.3M to date.

Gerard Butler failed to attract crowds to his new U.S.-Russia submarine thriller Hunter Killer which opened to only $6.7M, according to estimates, averaging a weak $2,445 from 2,720 locations. Lionsgate saw mixed and negative reviews for the R-rated film and competition from World Series games taking place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights factored in too. A quick journey to home entertainment platforms seems likely.

The Fox drama The Hate U Give dropped by 33% to an estimated $5.1M raising the total to $18.3M. Universal's space race disappointment First Man fell 41% to an estimated $4.9M for a cume to date of only $37.9M.

Holding up well in its fifth frame was the animated comedy Smallfoot with an estimated $4.8M, down 28%, putting Warner Bros. at $72.6M which is over three times its opening weekend figure. Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish saw their comedy Night School drop 33% to an estimated $3.3M giving Universal $71.5M overall.

Indie film Mid90s from director Jonah Hill expanded and reached the ten spot with an estimated $3M for A24. The coming-of-age pic averaged a soft $2,488 from 1,206 locations and sits at $3.4M. Set in Los Angeles, Mid90s caught some bad luck having the Dodgers make it to the World Series on the very weekend it went wide.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $92.2M which was up a big 59% from last year when Jigsaw debuted at number one with $16.6M; and up 24% from 2016 when Boo! A Madea Halloween stayed in the top spot with $17.2M.


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Watch the trailer for Glass.

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Bohemian Rhapsody, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and Nobody's Fool all open.

# Title Oct 26 - 28 Oct 19 - 21 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 Halloween $ 31,419,070 $ 76,221,545 -58.8 3,990 2 $ 7,874 $ 126,075,470 Universal
2 A Star is Born 14,037,079 19,051,082 -26.3 3,904 4 3,596 148,614,479 Warner Bros.
3 Venom 10,652,381 18,043,887 -41.0 3,567 4 2,986 187,134,695 Sony
4 Goosebumps 2 7,284,207 9,721,173 -25.1 3,723 3 1,957 38,133,016 Sony
5 Hunter Killer 6,653,777 2,720 1 2,446 6,653,777 Lionsgate
6 The Hate U Give 5,101,859 7,602,108 -32.9 2,375 4 2,148 18,301,864 Fox
7 First Man 4,865,575 8,327,135 -41.6 2,959 3 1,644 37,808,655 Universal
8 Smallfoot 4,761,614 6,576,876 -27.6 2,662 5 1,789 72,602,664 Warner Bros.
9 Night School 3,236,025 4,892,515 -33.9 1,991 5 1,625 71,433,050 Universal
10 Mid90s 2,980,505 258,157 1,206 2 2,471 3,330,676 A24
11 The Old Man and the Gun 1,763,032 2,134,481 -17.4 1,042 5 1,692 7,177,129 Fox Searchlight
12 Johnny English Strikes Again 1,638,895 544 1 3,013 1,638,895 Universal
13 Indivisible 1,503,101 830 1 1,811 1,503,101 Pure Flix
14 Bad Times At The El Royale 1,354,507 3,420,067 -60.4 1,798 3 753 16,548,243 Fox
15 Free Solo 1,133,719 1,022,204 10.9 394 5 2,877 5,292,372 NatGeo
16 House with a Clock in Its Walls 1,050,965 1,813,390 -42.0 1,042 6 1,009 66,523,980 Universal
17 Beautiful Boy 653,618 415,735 57.2 192 3 3,404 1,495,815 Amazon
18 Gosnell 390,412 640,283 -39.0 467 3 836 3,207,636 GVN
19 Can You Ever Forgive Me? 356,365 161,510 120.6 25 2 14,255 586,504 Fox Searchlight
20 Crazy Rich Asians 350,113 539,848 -35.1 281 11 1,246 172,825,178 Warner Bros.
Top 5 $ 70,046,514 $ 131,364,822 -46.7
Top 10 90,992,092 155,990,869 -41.7
Top 20 101,186,819 163,396,654 -38.1
Top 20 vs. 2017 101,186,819 71,580,640 41.4

Last Updated: October 28, 2018 at 2:35PM ET

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