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The Juice is back.

The long-awaited Beetlejuice finally made its way to the big screen after 36 years, and it didn't disappoint in the slightest, becoming the second September film to debut with a colossal $100 million. Which made up for its soft debut overseas. As it's the weekend after Labor Day, holdovers experienced some rough drops. There was another newcomer, A24's The Front Room, which had one of the worst debuts for any film playing in 2,000+ theaters.

The Top 10 earned a combined $140.8 million this weekend. That's up a massive 72.4% from last year, when The Nun II opened on top, while My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 underwhelmed.

Debuting in 4,575 theaters, Warner Bros.'s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice debuted with a colossal $111 million this weekend. That marked the second biggest September debut, just behind It ($123 million). The film already outgrossed the original's unadjusted lifetime (and it will pass its adjusted gross by the end of the second weekend). It's director Tim Burton's second highest debut, just behind Alice in Wonderland ($116 million). It's lead star Michael Keaton's second biggest debut, behind Spider-Man: Homecoming ($117 million), but its his biggest as leading man.

It doesn't take a genius to understand why it made this much. Simply put, the original Beetlejuice is one of Burton's signature films, earning $198 million in today's dollars. Its popularity didn't just stop there; it was massive in TV reruns, merchandising and DVD sales. For decades, fans have asked for a sequel, but there were always problems that prevented it from ever happening. Fortunately, it survived development hell to see the light of day.

The pivotal element for the film were obviously two factors: Burton and Keaton returning. But it didn't just stop there; having Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara return was also a very important element. Ryder, in particular, has grown in popularity since the success of Stranger Things. And then it comes another huge element: Jenna Ortega. Ortega previously worked with Burton on Wednesday, which became Netflix's most watched series. This kind of synergy was pivotal, to the point that series creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar wrote the film. The reviews were also solid enough to convince people that the 36-year-wait was worth it.

According to Warner Bros., 58% of the audience was female and a massive 45% was 35 or older. It was walk-up heavy, as 60% of the audience bought tickets same day. 41% came because it was a franchise, 38% for the cast, 30% for Burton and 27% for Keaton (them Keaton walk-ups finally arrived!). We mentioned Ortega as a pivotal element in the key's success, but it looks like it wasn't as strong as it seemed; Deadline reported that 25% watched the film for BOTH Ortega and Ryder. That suggests the numbers were lower than expected.

Audiences gave the film a middling "B+" on CinemaScore. That's above the original, but the original was an original property, so a "B" is appropriate. In contrast, the people polled this weekend were die-hard fans. It's not a bad grade, but it's not a great one either. We'll see how much it holds up, but so far, the film is already a success. It could hold well enough to pass Alice as Burton's highest grossing film domestically. But it has zero chance worldwide. Why? We'll get to that in a moment.

In second place, Deadpool & Wolverine fell 55% and added $7 million this weekend. The film has amassed a marvelous $613.8 million so far.

Reagan eased just 37%, which is quite good, considering how the rest of the holdovers dropped. It earned $4.8 million this weekend, taking its domestic total to $18.1 million.

In fourth place, Alien: Romulus continued falling. This time, it dropped 57%, grossing $3.9 million. That takes its domestic total to $97.2 million. It will hit $100 million soon, but it won't make it much further than that.

Sony's It Ends with Us dropped 50% and added $3.7 million this weekend. The film has earned $141.3 million so far. Let's see if it can hit the $150 million milestone.

The Forge had the best hold in the Top 10. It eased a light 35%, adding $3 million. Its domestic total is now $20.8 million after three weekends.

Having lost the 4DX screenings, Twisters collapsed 72% and added $2.1 million this weekend. The film has collected $264.5 million, and it could still earn $270 million, but it might not make it much higher.

In eighth place, Amazon MGM's Blink Twice dropped 57% and added $2 million. That takes its domestic total to $20.2 million.

Universal/Illumination's Despicable Me 4 is also nearing the end of its run. It dropped 55%, adding $1.8 million. And that's now $357 million after 2 months.

Rounding up the Top Ten was A24's The Front Room. Despite releasing in 2,095 theaters, the film flopped with just $1.6 million. That's the 18th worst debut for any film playing in over 2,000 theaters. That also translates to an awful $794 per-theater average, which is just brutal. That's like 4 people per screening.

The film was sold as Brandy's return to theatrical films, but you can just see it wasn't enough. What didn't help, however, was the weak reception. A24 is known for quality films, but this marked a rare misfire; it's sitting at a weak 51% on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience gave it a terrible "C–" on CinemaScore, and it will disappear quickly from theaters.

Don't you feel frustrated with A24? Somehow, Sing Sing can't play in more than 200 theaters despite awards buzz and critical acclaim, yet this gets 2,000 theaters. Make it make sense.

Surprise surprise, Trap jumped by 72% and added $1.3 million this weekend. Thanks to the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice double feature. That allowed it to take its domestic total to $41.6 million.

Fathom Events' Coraline dropped 58% and added $1.3 million this weekend. Its domestic total stands at $115.4 million.

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Yep, Sony/Blumhouse's Afraid collapsed a putrid 72% from its opening weekend, earning just $1 million in 3,003 theaters. That's an abysmal $334 per-theater average. Through ten days, the film has earned just $6.2 million, and it will lose so many theaters this week. Proof that even low-budget horror can flop.

Talk about a murder of crows. Lionsgate's The Crow was pulled from 2,456 theaters on its third weekend, and it was completely annihilated. It collapsed a horrible 93% this weekend, earning just $130,790. The film has earned just $9.2 million and its run is pretty much over. It's gonna finish below the original Crow's opening weekend ($11 million) and that's not even adjusted for inflation!

OVERSEAS

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice led the overseas markets. However, if the domestic performance is fantastic, the overseas performance was quite soft. It earned $36 million in 69 markets, taking its worldwide debut to $147 million. While it had some great debuts in the UK ($9.6M) and Mexico ($6.5M), it had modest performances in Australia ($2.6M) and Spain ($2.5M), and underwhelmed in Italy ($1.7M) and Brazil ($1.2M). Not surprising, considering the nostalgia for the original is not strong outside North America. It still has some markets like France, Germany and Japan left.

While the film could become Burton's biggest film domestically, it has zero chance of passing Alice worldwide. Depending on the holds and remaining markets, it's also not guaranteed to pass Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ($474.9 million).

Alien: Romulus crossed the $300 million milestone ($314.1 million) after adding $13.7 million overseas. The film has crossed $100 million in China, becoming the rare Hollywood title to earn more in that market than in America. It also debuted in Japan with $2.3 million this weekend. Its best markets are China ($100.6M), UK ($15.9M), Korea ($13.9M), France ($10.7M) and Mexico ($7.9M).

It Ends with Us also crossed $300 million ($309.3 million) after earning a further $10.8 million in foreign markets. The best markets are the UK ($26M), Germany ($14M), Australia ($14M), Mexico ($13.6M) and Brazil ($9.8M).

Deadpool & Wolverine added $8.4 million this weekend, taking its worldwide total to $1.287 billion. The best markets are the UK ($71.7M), China ($59.5M), Mexico ($43.4M), Australia ($41.8M) and Germany ($36.9M). By next week, it's hitting $1.3 billion.

Despicable Me 4 added $7.3 million and its worldwide total is now $930 million.

In another milestone, Inside Out 2 has now earned $1.675 billion, finally passing Jurassic World ($1,671 billion) to become the eighth biggest movie of all time worldwide.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

Movie Release Date Studio Domestic Opening Domestic Total Worldwide Total Budget
A Quiet Place: Day One Jun/28 Paramount $52,202,495 $138,930,553 $261,055,719 $67M
MaXXXine Jul/5 A24 $6,705,038 $15,097,633 $21,472,633 N/A
Borderlands Aug/9 Lionsgate $8,601,572 $15,482,668 $30,975,300 $120M
  • A Quiet Place: Day One has closed with $261 million worldwide. While it ranks as the franchise's lowest grossing film, this is a solid performance, considering prequels generally perform lower, especially without returning main cast members. Now, we'll wait for Part III, which John Krasinski will direct, and be the final mainline title.

  • A24's MaXXXine has closed with $21 million worldwide. It was the franchise's highest grossing film, but that's not really saying much considering how niche the previous films were. The big story here, however, was how front-loaded it was; it was tracking for a $10 million debut based on its first data numbers, but it didn't even hit $7 million. While the previous films held well, MaXXXine fell very quickly, earning just a 2.25x multiplier. Considering how word-of-mouth wasn't on its favor, though, it shouldn't be a surprise. While Ti West considered the idea of a fourth film, he has since balked down, which is probably for the best.

  • 4 weeks. It took 4 weeks for Borderlands to end its pathetic run. Yep, the disaster finished with just $15.4 million domestically and $30.9 million worldwide. On a $120 million budget. To the surprise of three, maybe four Lionsgate executives. This was one of the easiest flops of the year. From wrapping filming 3 years ago, to Craig Mazin removing his name, to reshooting the film without its director, to miscast actors, to horrible trailers, to a fanbase that couldn't care any less for the film, to its 10% on RT, to its "D+" on CinemaScore… an example of how a film did every single thing wrong. A bomb for the ages.

THIS WEEKEND

There's three wide releases, and none stand a chance at dethroning Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

The first is Universal/Blumhouse's Speak No Evil, which is a remake of the 2022 Danish film. It stars James McAvoy, and follows an American family joining a British family for a holiday, where horror begins. Blumhouse is coming off a rare misfire with Afraid, so this should be a needed comeback.

Lionsgate is also releasing The Killer's Game, which stars Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror, Pom Klementieff and Ben Kingsley. A veteran assassin fends off a hit he placed on himself after learning the terminal medical diagnosis he received was incorrect. Lionsgate has had two big bombs in a row in Borderlands and The Crow. Will this be any different?

There's Daily Wire's documentary Am I Racist?. Pray for us, cause these will be some of the messiest days in the sub.

There's Amazon MGM's My Old Ass also releasing, but it's still unclear if it will receive a wide release as of this writing.

NEW RULES

In case you missed it, we recently posted a new set of rule changes. While we get some are not as welcome as others, we believe this will be helpful in the long run.

by SanderSo47

1 Comment

  1. idk if it’s the new reddit UI(I hate it so much), but literally non of the formatting in the post is working for me…

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