BLACK PHONE 2, the horror sequel from Universal and Blumhouse, won the weekend with a $26.5M opening. With help from Disney’s TRON: ARES with $11.1M in its second weekend and Lionsgate’s GOOD FORTUNE with $6.2M in its opening, the total box office for all movies playing in North American theatres came to $67.4M. On this same weekend last year, the total box office was a very similar $68.8M, led by Paramount’s SMILE 2, which grossed $23.0M in its first three days.
Historically, the pre-Halloween period struggles to turn out moviegoers, and it seems that horror is the only genre with a hint of success this time of year. Knowing this, the streamers are also leaning into horror movies on their platforms, giving fans the option to be scared from their couches. As Halloween approaches, we expect that theatre attendance will continue to languish and only pick up again next month with the arrival of Disney and Twentieth Century’s PREDATOR: BADLANDS on November 7th.
On the upside, Netflix has decided that some theatrical life remains for their KPOP: DEMON HUNTERS sing-along event, which earned $19M in its first time in theatres in late August. Netflix is bringing it back for an encore on Halloween weekend, this time with the participation of approximately 400 AMC Theatres, which sat out the earlier release in a protest of Netflix’s windowing policy.
That move cost AMC millions, both in admissions and add-on food and beverage sales. This time, AMC will almost certainly be the market share leader among exhibitors. On another bright note, Fandango reported that first-day ticket sales for Universal’s WICKED: FOR GOOD have set a new record for 2025 releases.
FIRST PLACE
BLACK PHONE 2 is a straightforward sequel to Universal and Blumhouse’s THE BLACK PHONE, which was released on June 24, 2022. The original was a big hit, with an opening weekend box office of $23.6M and a total of $90.1M domestically and $161.4M worldwide. After its successful debut, Joe Hill, the author of the short story that the movie was based on, came up with a concept for a sequel and shared it with the film’s director, Scott Derrickson.
Derrickson liked it and signed on to make the sequel. He used Hill’s concept to create a new screenplay, writing with C. Robert Cargill, his collaborator, on the first movie. The story of the new film takes place in 1982, four years after the events of THE BLACK PHONE. The original cast was also brought back, including Mason Thames (Finney), Madeleine McGraw (Gwen), Jeremy Davies (Father Terrence), and Ethan Hawke (The Grabber).
While the first film concentrated on the supernatural connection that “the black phone” provided to connect to past victims, the sequel leans into the idea that the Grabber can now operate beyond death, haunting Gwen and inflicting real harm through dreamlike sequences.
Derrickson describes his new movie as more intense, more aggressive, and more violent than the first. It could be that his returning audience needs something more to experience a bigger scare. Derrickson picked a snowbound, winter setting (camp, isolation) to differentiate from the typical summer camp horror scenes. He explains that around 90% of the snow shown in the film is real, because “there’s nothing worse than fake snow.” Principal photography began in Toronto on November 4, 2024, and the city cooperated with copious amounts of real snow.
In fact, filming had been planned to end January 15, 202,5, but it trailed on until January 23, 2025, because of lost filming days due to heavy snowfall. This filming delay, plus an incredibly tight post-production schedule, forced Universal to push the film’s release back from an originally planned June 27, 202,5, release to this weekend in October. Based upon the opening weekend, it will be interesting to see what impact it will have to move the release from a prime summer date to the pre-Halloween period.
Critics enjoyed both the original movie and its sequel, which is somewhat of a rarity for horror films. Rotten Tomatoes reports BLACK PHONE 2’s critics score at 75%, with an 85% rating from audiences. THE BLACK PHONE registered only slightly higher scores of 81% from critics and 88% from the public.
Here is a selection of comments from key reviewers. Variety reports, “It’s remarkably scary, considering the deliberate pace… which is a precursor to how all bets are off when dealing with dreams.” Collider sings the praises of Ethan Hawke’s Grabber and says he is an all-time horror movie villain. Time Out says, “There’s still plenty here to make you shiver, but in letting events out of the basement, this sequel has also released much of the tension.” IndieWire offers up, “The best things about this movie come from other movies… These elements are enjoyable, which is precisely why they’re recycled here.”
As with all Blumhouse films, the project had a tightly controlled production budget of $20M, only $2M more than the amount spent to create the first film. It will need to earn $50M worldwide to make a profit from its theatrical run, and based on its opening weekend tally of $26.5M domestically and an additional $15.5M from foreign markets, we expect BLACK PHONE 2 to cross that threshold within its opening ten days. For a comparison, we look no further than the original THE BLACK PHONE.
BLACK PHONE 2 vs. THE BLACK PHONE
SECOND PLACE
Disney’s TRON: ARES finished in second place in its second weekend with $11.1M, a steep drop of 66% from last weekend’s opening. This brings its 10-day box office to $54.6M domestically and $103M worldwide. The precipitous decline must be discouraging for Disney and the creative team behind the film.
TRON: ARES started with an opening weekend that was 75% of TRON: LEGACY’s in 2010, and now,w after ten days, it sits at only 61% of TRON: LEGACY at this same point. And these numbers do not take into account inflation over the past 15 years, which makes the new film’s results even less appealing. It seems as if an October release date may not have been the best choice for this title.
The film could have done better with an early August release date when summer action seekers might still have been looking for options. Disney is almost always right on in their release date choices, but TRON: ARES may go down as a notable exception. It’s very unlikely that this movie will reach profitability, and it may wind up killing off the TRON franchise for good. Here is how all the TRON movies compare after 10 days in release.
TRON: ARES vs. Earlier Tron Films after 10 Days
THIRD PLACE
Lionsgate’s GOOD FORTUNE opened with $6.2M in its first three days, which was good enough for a third-place finish in a slow weekend. The film is described as a supernatural comedy with drama, mixing humor with underlying themes of wealth inequality, work-life balance, and empathy.
It is the directorial debut of Aziz Ansari, best known as a highly successful stand-up comic. Ansari wrote the screenplay and then directed and starred in the film. Its plot revolves around a clumsy angel named Gabriel who swaps the lives of a struggling gig worker and a wealthy tech investor to teach them empathy. The plan backfires, chaos ensues, and all three discover that true satisfaction lies in compassion, not wealth.
Ansari has assembled an all-star cast, with himself playing the gig worker Arj, Keanu Reeves playing the angel Gabriel, and Seth Rogen appearing as Jeff, a wealthy tech investor. Keke Palmer plays Maya, a co-worker of Arj’s at a hardware store, and Sandra Oh steps in as Martha, also an angel and Gabriel’s boss.
Key to the commercial viability of the movie was Ansari’s ability to cast Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen in two of the lead roles. Rogen was perhaps an easier get since he is one of Ansari’s longtime friends. He approached Rogen with a draft of GOOD FORTUNE, and within two hours, Rogen agreed to come on board. Reeves proved to be much more difficult. First, Reeves is known to be VERY selective in the projects he involves himself with.
Secondly, Ansari and Reeves did not know each other before this project. In fact, Ansari doubted that Reeves would accept the role, thinking “that guy just seems like he’s on a different planet.” To make Reeves more comfortable, Ansari developed a rapport with him: he invited Reeves over to his home, cooked Indian food, hung out, and spent time in non-work settings to build personal trust. Reeves was eventually convinced after meeting with Ansari and reportedly being “game for everything,” embraced the comedic tone despite being better known for action roles.
Lionsgate chose to premiere the film at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), with its first screening on September 6, 2025. They hoped that a positive buzz from the festival would give the movie momentum for its fall release. The ratings on Rotten Tomatoes came in with 77% from critics and 75% from audiences.
Here is a sample of some of those reviews. Variety says, “Keanu Reeves’ brainless angel runs away with Aziz Ansari’s clever directing debut.” Collider says, “Good Fortune doesn’t stick every landing … but is a humorous take on familiar concepts buoyed by strong performances.” RogerEbert.com adds, “There’s so much to like about the four stars … a really tough film to hate.” On the other hand, IndieWire opined, “In the end … left me skeptical and uneasy, wondering whether the people it depicts … will only feel objectified.”
Ansari should be credited for bringing the cast together and making an entertaining film on a very reasonable production budget of $30M. After taking in $6.2M in North America in its first three days, it will prove very difficult for it to earn the $75M globally it will take to make a profit. We can’t help but compare GOOD FORTUNE with another role-swapping movie, the classic TRADING PLACES from 1983 starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd.
GOOD FORTUNE vs. TRADING PLACES
FOURTH PLACE
Warner Bros.’ ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER continues to hang around in the top five, adding another $4.0M in its fourth weekend. This brings its total box office to $61.9 domestically and $162.5M globally. We expect it to finish with around $75.0M domestic and $200M worldwide.
It may well receive a Best Picture nomination from the Academy, since many are calling it the best-made movie so far this year. Since it opened, we’ve been comparing ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER with TAKEN, and it now seems clear that TAKEN will be the better-selling film at the box office. However, TAKEN was not as widely acclaimed as Paul Thomas Anderson’s film and did not receive any Oscar nominations.
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER vs. TAKEN after 24 Days
FIFTH PLACE
Paramount’s ROOFMAN fell from second place last weekend to fifth place this weekend, bringing in $3.7M and dropping 54%. Its 10-day total is now $15.5M domestically and $16.4M worldwide. ROOFMAN’s domestic gross continues to run slightly ahead of its comparison film, LOGAN LUCKY. This bodes well for the film’s chances to be profitable.
LOGAN LUCKY wound up earning $48.5M worldwide, which is slightly more than the $45M minimum that ROOFMAN will need to be profitable. The international markets will probably make or break the film, as LOGAN LUCKY was able to secure 43% of its total gross from foreign territories. Currently, the international gross for ROOFMAN only accounts for 5% of its total gross. Here is how the two films compare after 10 days of release.
ROOFMAN vs. LOGAN LUCKY after 10 Days
Where Are We as of 10/16/2025
After 41 weeks, the 2025 domestic box office stands at 104% compared to the same point in 2024 and 75% compared to 2019.
