Horror film ‘Smile’ smiling at No. 1; ‘Bros’ starts out in fourth
Moviegoing audiences chose the horror movie over the romantic comedy to kick off the month of October. Paramount’s “Smile” topped the North American charts with $22 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, leaving Billy Eichner’s rom-com “Bros” in the dust.
Universal’s “Bros” launched with an estimated $4.8 million to take fourth place behind “Don’t Worry Darling” ($7.3 million) and “The Woman King” ($7 million). But opening weekends likely aren’t the final word on either “Bros” or “Smile.” Horror movie audiences are generally front-loaded, dropping off steeply after the first weekend, while something like “Bros,” which got great reviews and an A CinemaScore, suggesting strong word-of-mouth potential, is a movie that could continue finding audiences through the fall. It is not unusual for R-rated comedies to open modestly and catch on later.
“Bros” is significant for being the first gay rom-com given a wide theatrical release by a major studio, as well as the first studio movie starring and cowritten by an openly gay man. Since premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, the film has gotten stellar reviews from critics and also been the target of “review bombs” on IMDb. The site last week removed removed hundreds of one-star reviews for “Bros” that were logged before the film was released.
It’s also hard to compete with a new horror movie in October. “Smile,” written and directed by Parker Finn in his directorial debut, stars Sosie Bacon as a therapist haunted by smiling faces after a traumatic event.
According to exit polls, 52% of the audience was male and 68% were ages 18-34 for the R-rated film.
Second place went to “Don’t Worry Darling” in its second weekend in theaters, with $7.3 million, down 64% from its opening. The mid-century-styled psychological thriller starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles has earned $32.8 million domestically against a $35 million production budget.
And “The Woman King” was close behind in third place in its third weekend, with an estimated $7 million, down only 36% from last weekend. The historical war epic directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood stars Viola Davis as an Agojie general and has made $46.7 million. Rounding out the top five was the re-release of “Avatar,” with $4.7 million from 1,860 locations.
Notably, the film with the highest per-theater average was the Indian epic “Ponniyin Selvan: I,” which earned $4.1 million from just 510 theaters.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Smile,” $22 million.
2. “Don’t Worry Darling,” $7.3 million.
3. “The Woman King,” $7 million.
4. “Bros,” $4.8 million.
5. “Avatar” (re-release), $4.7 million.
6. “Ponniyin Selvan: I,” $4.1 million.
7. “Barbarian,” $2.8 million.
8. “Bullet Train,” $1.4 million.
9. “DC League of Super-Pets,” $1.3 million.
10. “Top Gun: Maverick,” $1.2 million.