BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE continued its hold on first place by earning $51.6M in its second weekend. The total box office for all films came in at $95.0M, significantly higher than last year’s $62.8M on this same weekend, which was led by weekend #2 of THE NUN II with $14.5M and A HAUNTING IN VENICE with $14.3M in its opening. We expect to see a higher grosses compared to last year for at least the next three weeks, up to and including the much-anticipated opening weekend of JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX from October 4-6.
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE’s $51.6M was only 54% lower than its $111.0M opening, which had already surpassed the entire run of the 1988 original which generated $74.7M. The sequel had the second biggest opening in history for a September opening, only slightly lower than IT’s 2017 debut of $123.4M from September 8-10. Here is a comparison of these two September hits:
IT (2017) VS. BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (2024) – Domestic Box Office
- IT (9/8/2017) – Opening Weekend $123.4M, 2nd Weekend $60.1M (-51%), 10-Day $218.8M, Total $327.5M, Budget $35M, RT Critics/Audience 85%/84%
- BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (9/6/2024) – Opening Weekend $111.0M, 2nd Weekend $51.6M (-54%), 10-Day $188.0M, Budget $100M, RT Critics/Audience 77%/81%
While BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE has been a success, it is not likely to hit the heights that IT achieved. IT’s opening weekend was 11% higher than BEETLEJUICE 2’s, and after 10 days that advantage has increased to 14%. The second weekend decline for IT of 51%, also slightly better than BEETLEJUICE 2’s 54% drop. IT wound up with $286.6M in September box office and $327.5M overall. Until now, the second-highest September opening film was the sequel
IT CHAPTER TWO, which earned $194.6M in September 2019 after its September 6th opening and $211.6M overall. The box office for BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE should wind up somewhere between that of the two IT movies.
Universal’s new psychological horror film SPEAK NO EVIL finished in second place with $11.5M in its opening. This film is a remake of a 2022 Danish movie that drew praise for its directing, performances, and storyline. While the Danish original earned only $631K worldwide, its storyline and suspense caught the attention of Universal and Blumhouse who decided to remake it for global audiences.
SPEAK NO EVIL tells the story of an American couple who is invited by a charming British husband and wife to their country estate for a weekend holiday. The hosts begin to act a little “off” until the situation escalates to the point where their guests are forced into survivor mode. It was directed by James Watkins (THE WOMAN IN BLACK), and stars James McAvoy (X-MEN, ATONEMENT), Mackenzie Davis (TULLY), and Aisling Franciosi (THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER).
Both critics and audiences are quite pleased, with both giving it an 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes. McAvoy has received praise for his portrayal of the split-personality host who set the unsettling tone for the movie. Blumhouse is following its very successful strategy of producing low-cost horror films, with SPEAK NO EVIL’s budget coming in at $15M. As a result, the movie only needs to gross $38M worldwide to turn a profit, which it will certainly achieve after a $11.5M domestic opening.
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE finished third with $5.2M, a drop of 26% from last weekend. The Marvel sequel has been in theatres for 52 days, hauling in an impressive $621.5M domestic and more than $1.3B worldwide. It has emerged as the all-time leader for an R-movie, and the second-highest-grossing film of the year, trailing only Pixar’s INSIDE OUT 2 which has earned $652.1M. After a few weeks in its run, its box office could exceed the $636.2M domestic earned by BARBIE last year, which made that movie the 12th highest domestic-grossing film of all time.
AM I RACIST? finished in fourth place with $4.8M in its opening weekend. The documentary comedy features political commentator Matt Walsh, no relation to Dick Walsh 😉. It was originally planned as a limited release to play in approximately 200 theatres however, after the movie’s advance ticket sales exceeded expectations its distributor SDG Releasing reset those plans to book it at over 1,500 locations.
The movie follows Walsh as he goes undercover as a self-proclaimed expert in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), attending a series of anti-racism workshops around the country where he discovers that profit rather than principle is driving the agenda. While the topic is controversial, the movie has resonated with audiences who gave it a stellar 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Produced on a shoestring budget of $3M, the film has already turned a profit.
Showbiz Direct’s biopic REAGAN continued to surprise by taking in $3.0M additional and falling only 39% in its third weekend, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of the weekend. After 10 days, it has sold $23.3M in North America. Critics have been harsh in their assessment, giving it only an 18% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The public has reached a very different conclusion, with a 98% audience score. AM I RACIST? finishing fourth this weekend and the upcoming opening of THE APPRENTICE on October 13th, it seems that there is a theatrical market for movies across the political spectrum in the year leading up to the Presidential election.
WHERE ARE WE AS OF 9/12/2024
After 36 weeks, the 2024 year-to-date box office has climbed to 86% of 2023 totals and 74% of 2019 totals at this same point.
