Deadline hears the horror pic written and directed by Parker Finn had a strong Saturday of $7.4 million, off 10% from Friday’s and previews’ $8.2M, which will get Smile to a $20M opening.
RelishMix noticed that TikTok views were driving engagement at 42M, plus YouTube views at 39M, prior to the weekend, fueling the pic’s social media universe to 110.2M across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
In a deja vu to last weekend with New Line’s Don’t Worry Darling, another genre pic, this R-rated horror film has received a B- CinemaScore and a severe 69%/53% definite recommend on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak, a standard audience reaction for such fare.
We see one studio calling Smile at $20M, and frankly with this audience score, and the front-loaded nature of horror films, only tonight will determine if this goes up.
Last weekend, everyone got excited about the initial numbers they were seeing for Don’t Worry Darling, got over their skis, and called the weekend at $20M on Saturday AM before it eased to $19.3M by Monday.
In second, Don’t Worry Darling at 4,121 theaters is eyeing a $7.56M second weekend, -61% for a 10-day of $33.1M.
Social media analytics corp RelishMix says, “Fans who state that they ‘have seen the film’, not only runs positive, but are also defending the film and suggesting that Don’t Worry Darling should be seen without watching the trailers so that audiences experience it with a clearest mindset.” Adds Relish, “Some fans are throwing in spoilers as well as incidental political shrapnel into threads.
The pic’s social media universe stands at close to 184M now across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
YouTube views are drivers, while Instagram pages are where many of the behind-the-scenes and materials are being discovered, along with added conversation and flaming chatter.
Wilde has added 124K fans during the last week on Instagram, and there’s strong engagement on her BTS posts.
Styles posted on his concert Instagram and Twitter and popped another 1.4M on his HSHQ feeds too.
Again, not strong business, but where the movie played was the West and Midwest.
2.) Don’t Worry Darling (NL/WB), 4,121 (+8) theaters, Fri $2.35M (-75%), 3-day $7.56M (-61%)/Total $33.1M/ Wk 2
FRIDAY AM: Paramount’s horror movie Smile struck up $2M in Thursday night previews that started at 7 p.m., a figure that’s just above M
Paramount is expecting a high-teens start this weekend, while it won’t be shocking if Smile exceeds $20M
The movie from writer-director Parker Finn sits at 82% with RT audiences, which is very good
When the movie originally was conceived, there was a possibility it would go to Paramount+, however, a rock concert test screening propelled Smile‘s fate for a theatrical release
Meanwhile, New Line’s Olivia Wilde genre pic Don’t Worry Darling ended its first week with $25.5M
The pic’s cume for the first seven days is just slightly ahead of TriStar’s first week for The Woman King, which did $25.1M at 4,113 theaters
Don’t Worry Darling posted solid weekdays: $1.66M on Monday, $2M Tuesday, $1.3M Wednesday and $1.2M Thursday
The pic is expected to decline by 55%-60% in its second weekend, around $7.7M
Woman King made $720K on Thursday in second place, -4% from Wednesday, for a second week of $14.5M and running total of $39.7M
The Viola Davis movie was booked at 3,765 venues
The rerelease of 20th Century Studios/Disney’s Avatar at 1,860 locations grossed $580K, -15% for a first week of $13.8M and running grand total of $774.3M — still the fourth-highest-grossing movie ever at the domestic box office after Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936.6M, 2015), Avengers: Endgame ($858.3M, 2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home ($814M, 2021)
20th Century Studios/Disney’s Barbarian made $6.6M in Week 3 for a running total of $30.2M
UK
Australia
France
Germany
Russia
India
Canada