“Five Nights at Freddy’s” has no trouble staying at the top of the domestic box office, although it’s expected to be down significantly from its big Halloween weekend premiere. The Universal release is expected to gross $17.8 million in its sophomore release, down 78% from its $80 million debut. That’s a sizable drop, though still somewhat impressive considering the film is already available on streaming and drew the property’s avid fans over its opening weekend.
Otherwise it should be a rather quiet cinema weekend. Three features are released in half-wide versions with similar noise levels. A24 is releasing Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” into 1,344 theaters after it opened on four screens last weekend. The Meg Ryan-directed romantic comedy “What Happens Later” is coming from Bleecker Street in 1,492 locations. And Roadside Attractions is bringing the latest Neil Burger production “The Marsh King’s Daughter” to 1,055 theaters. Only “Priscilla” has a real chance of being in the top five.
“Priscilla,” based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir and her account of her marriage to Elvis Presley, has received strong reviews since its spectacular premiere in Venice, where star Cailee Spaeny won the film festival’s best actress award. With a production budget of $20 million, the independent feature faces an uphill battle for box office success and hopes to remain in the awards conversation throughout the fall.
Ryan directs What Happens Later, which stars David Duchovny. Critics’ response has been muted, while audiences aren’t showing much urgency to release the romantic comedy – a genre that has struggled at the box office in recent years. However, the film has a small production budget of $3 million, meaning Ryan fans can help the feature succeed when it lands in living rooms over the holidays.
The Daisy Ridley vehicle The Marsh King’s Daughter has been moving around the calendar since original studio STX Films went bankrupt. The thriller wasn’t exactly highly anticipated, and some negative reviews didn’t help either. It earned about $310,000 on its opening day.
“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” wants to take silver again. The AMC Theater release grossed $3.6 million on Friday, down 23% from last weekend. By Monday, the concert film is expected to overtake “Elemental” ($154 million), “Creed III” ($156 million) and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” ($157 million) and become the 12th-highest-grossing North American release be year.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” is forecasting a weaker decline than last weekend’s 59% drop, with its third weekend gross expected to be around $6.4 million. The Apple Studios feature film has grossed $46 million in North America so far – not nearly as much as its massive $200 million production budget.
Universal and Blumhouse’s “The Exorcist: Believer” looks to round out the top five with a three-day box office of $2 million from 2,420 venues, for a domestic total of $63 million. “Believer” is set to be the start of a new film trilogy directed by David Gordon Green, with Universal spending $400 million to acquire the “Exorcist” rights alone.