“Smile 2” starts at the top, “We Live in Time” ends up in the top 5

The box office for “Smile 2” is in full swing. The Paramount horror film grossed $9.4 million from 3,619 domestic locations and preview screenings on Friday. That's more than the $8.2 million that the first “Smile” grossed on opening day in 2022 – a successful start for this sequel, which has a production budget of $28 million.

With the Halloween season still in full swing, “Smile 2” is well-positioned to turn a profit in the coming weeks. The question remains how well it can replicate the staying power of its predecessor. The first “Smile” was originally slated for a streaming release, but was upgraded to a full theatrical release after intensive test screenings. With the help of viral marketing, the low-budget thriller scored $22 million in its opening weekend – already a fantastic start – and then lost just 18% in its second weekend en route to a domestic final tally of $105 million and an excellent multiplier of 4.68.

Writer-director Parker Finn's feel-good escape remains one of the feel-good theater success stories of recent years, particularly in the horror genre. Paramount announced a sequel in the following months and now, two years later, the film is back at the top of the box office. And while a multiplier of 4.68 would be difficult to replicate, “Smile 2” has a strong enough response to support sustained play. The film scored well with critics, with reviews highlighting Naomi Scott's leading role and the story's rise into the pressurized world of pop stardom. Early viewers gave research firm CinemaScore a “B” grade — solid for a horror film that tends to perform worse than other genres and also above the “B-” that the first “Smile” received.

A24's tearjerker “We Live in Time,” starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, expands to 955 theaters this weekend after a limited opening in New York and Los Angeles and hopes to land in the top five of the domestic charts after opening on Friday grossed around $1.8 million. The John Crowley-directed feature performed well when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and has continued to receive positive reviews in the weeks since.

Universal's “The Wild Robot” is still going strong, holding onto second place in its fourth weekend of release. The DreamWorks animated film is expected to surpass $100 million domestically by Sunday, which would make it the 16th release of the year to reach that milestone.

Meanwhile, last weekend's box office hit, “Terrifier 3,” slips to third place in its second theatrical release, although a somewhat significant drop is expected for a franchise film that drew large numbers of fans its opening weekend. Cineverse's horror sequel brought in an estimated $2.9 million on Friday and hopes to push its domestic total past $30 million on Saturday. It was a triumph for the unrated, extremely bloodthirsty independent film.

And “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” continues to remain in the top five on its seventh weekend of release. After grossing $1.4 million on Friday, Tim Burton's comedy sequel is on track to overtake “Dune: Part Two” ($282 million) to become the fourth-highest-grossing domestic release of 2024, behind only ” Inside Out 2”, “Deadpool & Co. Wolverine” and “Despicable Me 4”. It's a land of contrasts for Warner Bros., which also has Joker: Folie à Deux, which suffered a decimating 81% drop on its second release and has now unceremoniously left the domestic top five on its third weekend of release.

In limited release, Neon has kicked off the rollout of Sean Baker's screwball festival favorite Anora with a release in six theaters in New York and Los Angeles. Rivals estimate the Palme d'Or winner took home $310,000 on Friday, kicking off what the independent distributor hopes will be a long awards season.