“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is having no trouble staying atop the domestic box office, despite projecting a sizable drop from its hefty Halloween weekend opening. The Universal release is looking to earn $17.8 million in its sophomore outing, down 78% from its $80 million debut. It’s a sizable fall, though still somewhat impressive given the film is already available to view on streaming and drew the property’s enthusiastic fans on opening weekend.
It’s shaping up to be a bit of a quiet moviegoing weekend otherwise. Three features are entering semi-wide release to similar levels of noise. A24 is putting Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” into 1,344 venues after launching on four screens last weekend. The Meg Ryan-directed romantic comedy “What Happens Later” is arriving from Bleecker Street in 1,492 locations. And Roadside Attractions is putting the latest Neil Burger joint “The Marsh King’s Daughter” into 1,055 theaters. Only “Priscilla” is really contending for a spot in the top five.
“Priscilla,” which draws from Priscilla Presley’s memoir and her account of her marriage with Elvis Presley, has drawn strong reviews since its splashy premiere at Venice, where star Cailee Spaeny won the film festival’s best actress prize. With a production budget of $20 million, the independent feature faces an uphill battle to theatrical success, hoping to stick around the awards conversation through the fall.
Ryan directs herself in “What Happens Later,” which co-stars David Duchovny. It has drawn a lukewarm response from critics, while audiences aren’t showing much urgency to roll out for the romantic comedy — a genre that has infamously struggled at the box office in recent years. The film sports a wee production budget of $3 million though, meaning Ryan devotees can help the feature find success when it lands in living rooms over the holiday season.
The Daisy Ridley vehicle “The Marsh King’s Daughter” has moved around the calendar since original studio STX Films declared bankruptcy. The thriller hasn’t exactly been hotly anticipated, with some negative reviews not helping matters. It earned about $310,000 on its opening day.
“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” looks to take silver once again. The AMC Theatres release earned $3.6 million on Friday, down 23% from last weekend. By Monday, the concert film should pass “Elemental” ($154 million), “Creed III” ($156 million) and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” ($157 million) to become the 12th-highest grossing North American release of the year.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” is projecting a softer tumble than its 59% drop last weekend, with a third weekend gross expected to land around $6.4 million. The Apple Studios feature has earned $46 million in North America so far — not close to matching its massive $200 million production budget.
Universal and Blumhouse’s “The Exorcist: Believer” looks to round out the top five with a three-day gross of $2 million from 2,420 venues, leading to a domestic total of $63 million. “Believer” is meant to kick off a new trilogy of films helmed by David Gordon Green, with Universal spending $400 million to acquire the “Exorcist” rights alone.
