“Smile 2” grins with its $23 million opening, “Anora” dazzles

Paramount and Temple Hill are grinning broadly.

your new film, Smile 2wins the domestic box office race with an estimated $23 million after grossing $9.4 million on Friday, including more than $2 million in previews. This would make the film's debut just ahead of the first Smilea surprise hit that opened with $22.6 million at the end of September 2022 and was on track to gross more than $217 million worldwide on a budget of $17 million.

Once again written and directed by Parker Finn, the film is about a malevolent spirit that attacks the hosts with a devilish grin, this time infecting a troubled pop star (Naomi Scott) with a lot of trauma to feed on The Hollywood ReporterReview of the film. Scott stars alongside Lukas Gage, Rosemarie DeWitt and Miles Gutierrez-Riley. This time the budget was $28 million, which is a modest sum for a major studio.

Smile 2 It received a cinema score of B from the audience, the same grade as the first film. It's about fending off competition through the remnant of the slasher image horror 3which opened last weekend with $18.9 million despite being unrated and doing no TV advertising.

horror 3from Cineverse, looks set to land in third place on the weekend charts with $9 million to $10 million, a solid position, putting it at about $26 million against a domestic production budget of $2 million.

Some speculate that DreamWorks/Universal The wild robot benefits from it horror 3 The latter can only be seen in cinemas by people under 17 when accompanied by an adult. (Theatrical operators are treating the film as an R-rated film.) Rival studios suspect that teenagers are buying tickets to see it Wild robot and then sneak in horror 3 (The same could also apply to Smile 2which is rated R).

Whatever the case may be, Wild robot – which is available at home on premium VOD – boasts a fourth weekend finish in second place as it crosses the $100 million mark domestically.

The big headline at the awards show's box office is that of Sean Baker Anorawhich will open in five locations in New York City and Los Angeles. Neon's special film is about a sex worker who falls in love with the son of a Russian oligarch and won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Anora is on track to average around $108,000 per theater, its best showing since Wes Anderson's Asteroid city last year.

Last weekend, some rival Oscar contenders didn't fare so well when they opted for a nationwide release instead of a platform release, including Jason Reitman's Saturday evening.

Estimates will be updated on Sunday morning.