If all goes according to plan, Scott Derrickson’s Black Phone 2 could mark a major comeback for Blumhouse after a series of box office disappointments — the most painful being the costly flop of M3GAN 2.0 earlier this year, which was both a financial and personal setback for horror mogul Jason Blum.
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So far, the signs are promising. Black Phone 2 led
the Friday box office with a strong $10.8 million opening day, which includes
$2.6 million from Thursday night previews. The film is now on track to earn
around $24.4 million across 3,411 theaters, according to Universal and
Blumhouse. Competing studios believe the final weekend figure could hit $26
million — either way, it’s a first-place finish. The sequel has received solid
reviews and strong audience reactions, including a B CinemaScore, which is
considered a solid grade in the horror genre.
Heading into the weekend, Universal had projected an $18
million debut, but pre-release tracking proved accurate in forecasting a
better-than-expected opening for the R-rated sequel — possibly even outpacing
the first film.
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The original Black Phone, which debuted in 2021 as
theaters were just beginning to recover from COVID closures, opened with $23.6
million domestically and went on to quietly become a global hit, raking in over
$161 million worldwide — before the horror genre began to show signs of fatigue
at the box office.
Black Phone 2 sees Ethan Hawke return as the
terrifying serial killer known as the Grabber. Critics have largely embraced
the film. Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the sequel,
arriving four years after the original, “is no mere cash grab,” praising it as
a more stylistically and thematically ambitious effort that mostly succeeds.
Latino audiences are currently the largest demographic
seeing the film, according to exit polls from PostTrak.
With a modest production budget of $30 million, the
Blumhouse and Universal co-production is expected to easily surpass Disney’s
holdover Tron: Ares, which earned just $3 million on Friday from 4,000
theaters and is projected to finish the weekend with only $11 million — a 65%
drop from its opening and a disappointment overall.
Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s Good Fortune, directed by and
starring Aziz Ansari, is also opening wide this weekend but is struggling to
find an audience. The $30 million comedy made $2.4 million on Friday from 2,990
locations, including $725,000 from previews. It’s expected to earn around $6 million,
placing third at the box office despite its star-studded cast and a B+
CinemaScore.
The film features Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh, and
Keanu Reeves — who plays a disheveled guardian angel trying to save a soul.
Despite its underwhelming box office, Good Fortune has received even
stronger critical reviews than Black Phone 2. The Hollywood Reporter
noted the film benefits from a charismatic cast and an easygoing, improvised
vibe that helps it coast on good intentions.
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