Box Office Report for the Week of October 26

It’s another major win for Sony in the world of anime with the highly anticipated Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc climbing to the top spot of the box office with a $17.2 million opening this weekend. While it does not eclipse the score of last month’s Demon Slayer film, it still showcases the incredible cultural power anime has in the world of moviegoing, especially in a post-COVID world, where movies based on popular titles have the potential of raking in big numbers in North America.

The box office has gotten far more unpredictable after the pandemic and the strikes upended the industry, and Chainsaw Man‘s success proves that Hollywood is in desperate need of reinvention to get audiences back into the habit of seeing films on the big screen again, especially considering the recent failures of several blockbusters and mid-budget features. That said, Colleen Hoover seems to be a major selling point nowadays, with Regretting You making an impressive $12.8 million despite horrendous reviews and reaching a $23 million global tally out of a $30 million budget.

Chris Stuckmann‘s directorial debut, Shelby Oaks, also made more than its entire budget since its release, with a $2.35 million domestic tally, despite opening in seventh place. For an independently made, crowdfunded picture, this is a pretty good result, especially given NEON’s backing after the movie’s Fantasia Festival world premiere, which allowed Stuckmann to reshoot and re-edit the film for an extra million. In any event, this is a win for the critic-turned-filmmaker who has been wanting to break into directing for a long while.

Next week should once again be another slow time at the movies, but as Awards season is fully kicking into gear, expect lots of movement in the box office realm, especially as the last few blockbusters of the year make their way to our screens very soon!

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc (Sony): $17.2M – 3,003 theatres
2. Black Phone 2 (Universal): $13.0M (-52%) – 3,460 theatres
3. Regretting You (Paramount): $12.8M – 3,393 theatres
4. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (Disney): $9.1M – 3,460 theatres
5. Tron: Ares (Disney): $4.9M (-56%) – 2,940 theatres
6. Good Fortune (Lionsgate): $3.1M (-50%) – 2,990 theatres
7. Shelby Oaks (NEON): $2.35M – 1,823 theatres
8. One Battle After Another (Warner Bros): $2.33M (-39%) – 1,473 theatres
9. Roofman (Paramount): $2.0M (-46%) – 2,347 theatres
10. ParaNorman – Re-Release (Fathom Entertainment): $991.910 – 1,359 theatres

Source: Comscore