‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Still The Ghost With The Most: Second Weekend At $51M+; ‘The Killer’s Game’ Gets Whacked — Sunday Box Office Update

The second weekend of September for all movies came close to the $100M mark for the first time since pre-Covid 2019 thanks to Warner Bros’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice rally at the box office, coming in at $51.6M weekend (-56%) after a second Friday of $14.4M and Saturday of $22.5M. The running stateside total is $188M with global at $264.3M.

Blumhouse/Universal’s Speak No Evil came in a little lower than what we were seeing yesterday with $11.5M to $12.3M, but above its $10M projection. This movie in its essence feels arthouse with its UK countryside setting and dialogue-driven quiet thriller narrative. For a movie like this, based on the 2022 Danish horror sensation Gæsterne, that’s pretty impressive. CinemaScore is a B+, which is very high for a genre movie. Mostly female here for the R-rated movie at 51%, and 38% of the audience over 35. Diversity demos are 37% Caucasian, a very solid 31% Latino and Hispanic, 16% Black and 10% Asian American. Best markets for the James McAvoy movie are South Central and West with the AMC Burbank the title’s top grossing venue at around $30K so far.

Filing in 4th place, and a commendable start for a wide release documentary is SDG Releasing/Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh documentary, Am I Racist? with $4.75M for the weekend at 1,517 sites after a $1.96M Friday and A Cinemascore and 5 stars on PostTrak. That’s the third highest opening for a wide release documentary per Comscore in the last decade behind Angel Studios’ After Death ($5M) and Disney’s 2017 Born in China ($4.79M) Diversity turnout was 64% Caucasian, 19% Latino and Hispanic, 6% Black and 4% Asian American. Mostly men at 56% with 59% of the audience being over 35 and the largest demo being 25-34 at 28%.

In terms of the political background of those buying tickets, PostTrak showed that 52% indentified as conservative and 43% as Republican, 8% politically moderate and 3% registered Democrats. The pic earned an A+ with men under 18 and women under 25. Top markets for the right-wing docu were Los Angeles, NYC, Nashville (Regal Green Hills multiplex there the best in the nation for the pic at $30K so far), Dallas-Ft. Worth and Salt Lake City. However, the top grossing areas were the South, Midwest and Mountain regions. Fifty-nine percent of those in PostTrak exits said they went to the docu because of its subject, which follows Walsh investigating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, while 39% went because they’re fans of the right-wing commentator. “Like Tucker Carlson, he’s a draw for the right,” commended one rival marketing exec not associated with the film, on how Daily Wire hit the pic’s target audience head-on.

The weekend is not without its causalities and that’s unfortunately Lionsgate’s Dave Bautista action comedy, The Killer’s Game, which came in at $2.6M at 2,623 locations. For the Dune and Guardians of the Galaxy actor, it’s his lowest wide opening to date of his career, under the 2018 ensemble Hotel Artemis at $3.2M.

Despite the lackluster turnout here, those who watched the movie gave it a B+ on CinemaScore, but PostTrak moviegoers were harder at 63% positive and a very low 45% recommend.

The chart is updated with Sunday numbers:

1. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (WB) 4,575 theaters, Fri $14.4M Sat $22.5M Sun $14.6M 3-day $51.6M (-54%) Total $188M/Wk 2

2. Speak No Evil (Uni) 3,375 theaters Fri $4.9M Sat $4M Sun $2.6M , 3-day $11.5M/Wk 1

3. Deadpool & Wolverine (Disney) 3,075 theaters, Fri $1.4M (-21%) Sat $2.3M Sun $1.5M 3-day $5.2M (-26%) Total $621.5M/Wk 8

4. Am I Racist? (SDG) 1,517 theaters, Fri $1.96M Sat $1.55M Sun $1.24M 3-day $4.75M/Wk 1

5. Reagan (Showbiz) 2,450 (-320) theaters, Fri $905M (-40%) Sat $1.1M Sun $882K 3-day $2.96M (-39%), Total $23.3M/Wk 3

6. The Killer’s Game (LG) 2,623 theaters, Fri $1.06M Sat $945K Sun $590K 3-day $2.6M, Wk 1

7. Alien: Romulus (20th/Disney) 1,950 (-610) theaters, Fri $682K (-33%) Sat $995K Sun $723K 3-day $2.4M (-38%) Total $101.2M/Wk 5

8. It Ends With Us (Sony) 2,209 (-641) theaters, Fri $635K (-43%) Sat $870K Sun $520K 3-day $2.02M (-45%), Total $144.8M, Wk 6

9. The Forge (Sony) 1,614 (-96) theaters, Fri $530K Sat $855K Sun $625K 3-day $2.01M (-33%), Total $24.1M/Wk 4

10. God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust (Fath) 1,392 theaters, Thu $360K Fri $460K Sat $575K Sun $431K, 3-day $1.466M, Total $1.82M/Wk 1