Horror Movies Dominate With Smile 2 At Top, Terrifier 3 Scaring Up Major Milestone In Week 2 [Full Chart Update]

Smile 2 and Terrifier 3 are simultaneously conquering the box office. Both horror titles are sequels to successful 2022 releases, with Terrifier 3 – the $2 million blood-soaked outing for slasher villain Art the Clown – opening last weekend to $18.9 million, besting the entire $15.7 million run of the previous installment, which had a minuscule budget of $250,000. The Smile 2 release – which sees pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) cursed by the sinister smiling entity – has even bigger shoes to fill, as the original became the highest-grossing horror title of 2022, earning $217.4 million against its $17 million budget.

Per Deadline, as of Saturday morning, Smile 2 is projected to take the No. 1 slot from the second weekend of Terrifier 3 with a projected 3-day opening weekend total of $23 million. This marks the first time that two different horror movies have taken No. 1 on consecutive weekends since the release of the original Smile in 2022, which was usurped by the slasher sequel Halloween Ends after two weekends atop the chart. Its total almost exactly matches the original 2022 movie, which debuted to $22.6 million.

Meanwhile, Terrifier 3 is projected to take in an additional $9.8 million, which would be a roughly 48% drop from its opening weekend. Horror movies typically have large drops in their second weekends, which can frequently reach 60% or more, so this is a very solid result. This sees the hit slasher movie sink to No. 3 in its sophomore weekend as its cumulative domestic total reaches $36.7 million, pushing past the $30 million milestone. Below, see the full domestic Top 5 for the weekend:

While The Wild Robot and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice have maintained their places at No. 2 and No. 4 respectively, the We Live in Time release expanding after its limited opening allowed the Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh romance to rise to No. 5 with a gross of more than $4 million bringing its cumulative total to $4.5 million. The movie expanded from five theaters to 985, accounting for this boost, though its per-theater average is strong, as it is playing in significantly fewer theaters than the rest of the Top 4, all of which are running in more than 2,500 locations.

These new arrivals have naturally seen two titles fall from the chart. The animated LEGO Pharrell biopic Piece by Piece fell from No. 5 to No. 7 with a 45% drop and a $2.1 million haul, while the Joker: Folie à Deux box office continued its free fall, dropping a staggering 69% with $2.18 million and hitting No. 6 in weekend 3 after falling to No. 3 in its sophomore weekend. Its cumulative domestic total is $56.4 million, a far cry from its reported $450 million break-even point.

What This Opening Weekend Means For Smile 2

It Could Become Another Major Horror Hit

The fact that Smile 2 has not exceeded the original movie’s debut by a significant margin is something of a surprise, considering how well that title did by the end of its worldwide box office run. However, the sequel is far from being a failure. If it maintains its lead ahead of the original movie, it could leg out to a worldwide gross of more than $220 million, becoming a major hit. That total would make it the third highest-grossing movie of the year so far, behind A Quiet Place: Day One ($261.7 million) and Alien: Romulus ($350.4 million).

The movie’s box office could also grow due to word of mouth. Smile 2 reviews have earned the movie a Certified Fresh score of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, an improvement on the original movie’s 80% score, which was also Certified Fresh. Additionally, it has so far earned an 86% audience score, an even larger improvement over the original’s audience score of 77%, which could show that it will have more staying power than the 2022 title.

Our Take On The Weekend Box Office

Horror Is Hitting Hard

The simultaneous success of Terrifier 3 and Smile 2 provides a huge boost to 2024 horror movies, as the genre has slumped somewhat after a stellar few years despite titles such as Longlegs and Late Night with the Devil becoming major hits. This could be the result of many anticipated sequels being pushed to 2025 as actors and writers fought for fair pay during the 2023 strikes. However, the rest of the year’s schedule for titles in the genre is sparse, so they may be the last horror hits until January, which sees the release of Blumhouse’s Wolf Man.

Source: Deadline

• Smile 2 is the sequel to the 2022 psychological horror film by director Parker Finn that centers on a therapist who witnesses a patient’s suicide, leading to a series of terrifying supernatural events. The sequel will see the return of Finn as director, with Paramount continuing distribution.

  Director

  Parker Finn

  Release Date

  October 18, 2024

  Distributor(s)

  Paramount Pictures

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  Terrifier 3 follows Sienna and her brother as they attempt to move past the traumatic events of Art the Clown’s Halloween massacre. As they embrace the Christmas season, Art reemerges, intent on turning their holiday into a nightmare, continuing his reign of terror.

  Director

  Damien Leone

  Release Date

  October 11, 2024

  Distributor(s)

  Cineverse

  Cast

  Lauren LaVera , David Howard Thornton , Antonella Rose , Elliott Fullam , Samantha Scaffidi , Margaret Anne Florence , Bryce Johnson , Alexa Blair Robertson , Mason Mecartea , Krsy Fox , Luciana VanDette , Clint Howard , Bradley Stryker , Daniel Roebuck , Chris Jericho , Tom Savini , Jason Patric , Alex Ross , Kailey Hyman , Kellen Raffaelo , Lisa Marie Falcone , Stephen Cofield Jr. , Corrine Kelly , Joe Falcone , Peter Mitchell , Marie Maser , Jon Abrahams

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