Warner Bros. and DC Films’Black Adamis looking to repeat at the top of the box office for the second weekend in a row, after debuting with a better-than-expected $67 million last weekend. The superhero film, starringDwayne Johnsonas a vengeful godlike being, made $7.5 million on its second Friday and is expected to make $24 million in its sophomore weekend.
This will take the film’s running domestic total to around $108.4 million in 10 days, which is way off from the biggest DC Extended Universe films. The estimated 63% drop forBlack Adamis bigger than usual for Johnson as his films usually experience second-weekend drops in the range of 44% (Rampage) and 58% (Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw). By comparison, this year’sThe Batmanfell by 50% in its second weekend, while the notorious bombGreen Lanterndropped by 66% in its second weekend back in 2011.
A week has passed, but it’s still unclear if the $195 million-budgetedBlack Adamcan be counted as a victory for the desperate-to-rebuild DCEU. The reviews have been so-so, although the audience reception has been significantly kinder. But with these kinds of budgets, films need to perform right out of the gate to have a good shot at success. That being said, it’s the 18th film of Johnson’s career to soar past the $100 million mark.
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Universal’s counter-programmer — theGeorge ClooneyandJulia Roberts-led rom-comTicket to Paradise— is expected to hold surprisingly well in its second weekend. The film over-indexed with a $16 million haul last weekend, and is expected to make $10 million in its sophomore weekend after a $3.1 million Friday, for a running domestic tally of $34 million. Globally, the film has passed the $100 million mark, and is shaping up to follow in the footsteps ofThe Lost Cityfrom earlier this year as another big hit directed at older female audiences.
Lionsgate’s Halloween offering,Prey for the Devil, is expected to take the third spot in its debut weekend at the box office. The poorly received film made $2.8 million on Friday (including Thursday previews) and is estimated to close out the weekend with $7 million. That’s in line with what Sony’sThe Invitationmade a few weeks ago.
Two horror holdovers rounded out the top five. Paramount’sSmilecontinued its remarkable run, with $1.5 million on its fifth Friday. The film is expected to make $5 million this weekend, for a running domestic total of over $92 million. Universal’sHalloween Endscontinued its downward spiral, with $1.1 million on its third Friday, for an estimated $5 million weekend and $60 million running domestic total. It should be noted that the film debuted day-and-date on the Peacock streaming service, which surely ate into its box office prospects. And thedivisive receptioncertainly didn’t help.
Overall business this weekend — as with every Halloween weekend — is expected to be low, hovering around the $66 million mark.Black Adamwill have to make its move soon though, as the runway clears for next month’sBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverto begin its box office takeover. You can watch our interview with Johnson here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
