Recent box office results highlight a nuanced theatrical market, with Taylor Swift's 'The Official Release Party of a Showgirl' demonstrating strong revenue potential for event-based cinema with a $33 million opening. Conversely, Dwayne Johnson's 'The Smashing Machine' significantly underperformed at $6 million, marking his lowest wide opening and questioning the consistent draw of star power outside traditional blockbusters. Meanwhile, Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another' achieved critical and commercial success, surpassing $100 million globally, underscoring the profitability of auteur-driven films, while established franchises like 'The Conjuring: Last Rites' and 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle' continued their robust performance, indicating diverse avenues for box office success.
TAGGED AS: Box Office, movies, news Just as it was two years ago, this weekend was all about Taylor Swift. It may not have been a concert. It may not have entirely been a movie per se, but it was an event, it was in theaters, and it made another good chunk of money. That is more than one can say about Dwayne Johnson’s play for an Oscar nomination. No one expected his latest film to be a blockbuster, but how many figured it would set a new low bar for the movie star? In 2023, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour opened to $92.8 million, the second highest start to an October release ever behind only Joker. It went on to gross nearly $179 million domestic and almost $250 million worldwide. That is the seventh-highest grossing October release ever. Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl is in theaters for just three days, so it won’t have a chance to break any records, but with $33 million over its solo weekend, it has made more money than the entire run of at least 13 (maybe even 14) films that were released in over 3,000 theaters this year. What more else is there to say, except that there is clearly money to made by releasing things into theaters? There are Dwayne Johnson movies and there are A24 movies. Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine is both, though not a blockbuster and, perhaps, not even the piece of Oscar bait they all hoped it would be. Reviews are still positive, but few are blown away by Johnson’s transformation. Thankfully he still has a bit of box office juice, which has carried over to bridge the typical releases personified by movie star vs. studio. Or so we thought. In 3,345 theaters (A24’s second biggest launch), The Smashing Machine grossed just $6 million. That is not even in the top 10 of their all-time openings. In fact, it only made about $4 million more than a 73-minute horror film from a dog’s point of view this weekend. Dwayne Johnson has headlined 23 films that have opened to $10 million, five over $20 million, six over $30 million, one $40 million (G.I. Joe: Retaliation), a couple fifties (San Andreas, Jumanji: The Next Level), and a pair of sixties (Hobbs & Shaw, Black Adam). But opening weekends aren’t everything. Only the Jumanji films got over $200 million (not counting Moana, of course, whose live-action version arrives in 2026) and both Black Adam and particularly last year’s Red One were major bombs – one of which may have been the pin in the grenade on rebooting an entire universe. This is the lowest wide opening of Johnson’s career, below even Faster, which started with $8.5 million and previously was the only one not to open to at least $10 million. The Smashing Machine is obviously not in the same kind of wannabe blockbuster league as those. It is the actor trying to stretch himself at a period in his career where it may be advantageous to take on different kind of roles – albeit one where his size is equally advantageous. When he took a supporting part in Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain it opened to $20.2 million and finished just shy of $50 million. The Smashing Machine, which reportedly cost $50 million, is on a path to not even finish as well as that film opened. Well one thing is official. In 10 days, One Battle After Another has already become Paul Thomas Anderson’s highest-grossing domestic release, passing There Will Be Blood’s $40.2 million. After a sophomore return of $11.1 million, his nearly universally-praised film is up to $42.7 million domestic. One Battle has also passed Blood’s global tally of $76.4 million with now $101+ million. The unfortunate news is that it will be Leonardo DiCaprio’s second theatrical release in a row after Killers of the Flower Moon to not reach $100 million. As we stated last week, it’s a small price to pay for helping to get the budgets necessary for these films to be made (even if a solid chunk goes to his salary). Flower Moon had $40.9 million in the bank after 10 days, but it also took a big 59.9% drop to just $9.3 million in its second weekend. It still legged itself out to over $68 million during its awards season run. One Battle After Another is plotting out its own run to over $70 million. That may not look great on the bottom line for WB, but any losses the film may take are certainly more than covered by the studio’s output this year. Heck, The Conjuring: Last Rites can practically cover them all by itself, as it added another $4 million this weekend. That brings its domestic total to almost $168 million and a global total of over $458 million. That’s money well spent if it encourages them to make the next big film from a signature filmmaker. Last week’s second place finisher was knocked down to fourth. Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie fell 62% to $5.2 million. That brings the $32 million production to only $21 million domestic and $32.5 million globally. At this rate the live-action/animated musical family comedy will hope to reach $30 million. That is in contrast to the fully animated Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, which has lasted longer in the top 10 than any of its brethren. Another $3.5 million in its fourth weekend brings its animation-leading tally of 2025 to over $124 million domestic and $633 million worldwide. The domestic title is probably safe until Zootopia 2 opens at Thanksgiving, but its worldwide total makes it the fifth-highest grossing film of the year. The original Avatar was re-released in theaters three months before its sequel came out. It opened to $10.5 million and grossed $24.7 million during its three-week run. Avatar: Fire and Ash is due in theaters on Dec. 19, so along comes the re-issue of Avatar: The Way of Water, which began its run with only $2.5 million in 2,140 theaters. That is the fourth-best opening for a re-release after Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith ($25.4 million) for its 20th anniversary, Jaws ($8.2 million) for its 50th, and Toy Story’s 30th Anniversary ($3.4 million). 2005’s Pride & Prejudice ($2.8 million) and Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii ($2.62 million) round out the best re-issue openings of the year. Horror again rounds out the top 10, starting with Renny Harlin’s The Strangers: Chapter 2, which fans have all but abandoned. $2.6 million in just its second weekend brings its 10-day total to $11 million. With a third chapter still on the horizon, will Lionsgate give it the Divergent treatment or follow through? IFC released the canine POV horror film Good Boy into 1,650 theaters and it grossed $2.2 million. This is only the seventh time they have launched a film into over 1,000 screens, and it is the third-best result behind only The Death of Stalin ($3.19 million) and Late Night with the Devil ($2.83 million). Their top five includes In a Violent Nature ($2.15 million) and Watcher ($1.56 million in just 764 theaters). Finally, Francis Lawrence’s Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk is down to $1.7 million, which brings its total after four weekends to $31.9 million domestic and over $40 million worldwide. Outside of the top 10, Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1 made an estimated $827,000 when it opened on Thursday. Over the weekend it made an additional $1.5 million for a total of $2.3 million in four days. Bleecker Street’s release of double-booking horror film Bone Lake opened to $828,000 in 1,059 theaters. The return of Daniel Day-Lewis to film in his son Ronan’s Anemone made $700,000 in 865 theaters. Neon’s release of Raoul Peck’s timely documentary Orwell: 2+2=5 grossed an estimated $26,561 in just a single theater. The neon adventures of the grid continue with Tron: Ares, the third chapter of the Disney franchise that began in 1982. Joachim Rønning takes over directing duties from Joseph Kosinski, who made his feature directing debut 15 years ago on Tron: Legacy. Channing Tatum stars in the true story of a criminal who hid in a Toys R Us for months in Roofman, which has an 82% with critics after its premiere in Toronto. Luca Guadagnino is not being as well-received with his latest, After the Hunt (currently at 50%), with Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Adebiri. Then a pair of Sundance premieres from this year open, starting with Bill Condon taking on the musical version of Kiss of the Spider Woman (currently at 82%) with Diego Luna, Tonatiuh, and Jennifer Lopez. Then A24 releases Mary Bronstein’s harrowingly funny and intense portrait of motherhood, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (currently at 95%), with Rose Byrne. Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo] Thumbnail image by ©Koyoharu Gotouge/Sony Pictures Releasing Theatrical box office results reveal a highly segmented market where specific content strategies are driving performance, while the traditional star-power model is showing significant weakness. The success of Taylor Swift's three-day event, generating $33 million, underscores a strong appetite for 'event cinema' that transcends conventional film structures. Conversely, the severe underperformance of Dwayne Johnson's A24-produced film, 'The Smashing Machine', which grossed a career-low $6 million on a wide release against a reported $50 million budget, signals a material risk for films reliant on star power outside of established blockbuster franchises. For the studios, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is executing a successful balanced-slate strategy; Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another' has become his highest-grossing film with over $101 million globally, while the franchise powerhouse 'The Conjuring: Last Rites' has amassed over $458 million worldwide, providing a financial buffer for prestige projects. Sony (SONY) demonstrates strong performance in a niche-gone-mainstream category, with 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle' surging past $633 million globally, establishing it as a top-five grossing film for the year. Disney's (DIS) activity was limited to a strategic, but low-grossing ($2.5 million), re-release of 'Avatar: The Way of Water' to build anticipation for its upcoming sequel.
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