“Holy ****” seems to encapsulate what kind of grosses the cumulative efforts of October pulled this year. Still, the namesake title of this document appears to have a bit of irony entrenched in it, when you consider Lionsgate’s Michael was tentatively poised to break out this month and maybe pull in a salvageable gross, not to keep the numbers kneecapped till the inevitable IP plays came in November and December. Or you can blame Lionsgate elsewhere for the lack of Saw XI or Warner Bros. for delaying Mortal Kombat II, your pick.
Let’s see: the last time Halloween opened on a Friday in October was 2020, which cannot be counted due to COVID circumstances and wobbly uncertainties, so we’re backpedaling further to 2014. That weekend saw John Wick acquire $8 million in its second weekend, and a spooky weekend pulled in a reliable $74 million. This weekend pulled in $48.4 million, easily the worst of the year. So much has changed when you would think the likes of Regretting You, One Battle After Another, and Good Fortune would pull in safe mid-level grosses amongst the tentpoles back a decade ago. Now, you’re pissed off that the titles mentioned in the paragraph above shifted to later dates, kneecapping the cumulative total for October 2025 and ending it at “only” $425 million—the worst-performing October since 1997.
To be fair, some of the titles could never break out as much as one anticipated. Tron: Ares proved that no one was begging for another Tron sequel, and Jared Leto doesn’t put folks in seats. The Smashing Machine wasn’t remotely interesting enough, even with Dwayne Johnson doing his best under major prosthetics to put on his best performance in some time. So unlike in April, no sinners or chicken jockies were found to make up for the lack of the King of Pop Star or “The House that Jigsaw Built” or a bloody action sequel starring Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
Anyway, Regretting You landed in first place with $8.1 million in its second weekend, and has passed $50 million worldwide. Black Phone 2 is holding well with $8 million in its third weekend and has passed $104 million worldwide; that domestic total is right in line with its predecessor, and based on legs, it should have enough to match it to earn around $155-165 million when all is said and done. Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc has passed $130 million worldwide.
Bugonia expanded into 2,026 theaters, grossing $4.8 million for a $4.8 million second weekend. Back to the Future re-released for $4.7 million (fun fact: yours truly rewatched the Universal picture this morning) and has passed $220 million domestic, not counting for inflation. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere has passed $30 million worldwide.
The Tron threequel is flaming out and will not even reach $150 million worldwide, affirming that it’s another bust for an IP resurgence no one asked for. Newcomer Stitch Head opened with $2.1 million. And One Battle After Another is going to miss $200 million worldwide.
Next weekend sees the release of Predator: Badlands, Nuremberg, Sarah’s Oil, Die My Love, Christy, I Wish You All the Best, and Stone Cold Fox.
