'Smile 2' Opens Strong with $23M Debut, While 'Anora' Shakes Up the Awards Season

The recent debut of 'Smile 2,' which garnered an impressive $23 million in its opening weekend, underscores the continuing popularity of horror films in contemporary cinema. This success can be attributed to a combination of effective marketing strategies and the established fanbase from its predecessor. The film's ability to resonate with audiences reflects the growing trend of horror as a dominant genre in box office returns, illustrating how it has become a major force in both theatrical releases and streaming platforms .

Their new movie, Smile 2, won the domestic box office race with an estimated $23 million from 3,619 theaters, including Imax and other premium large-format screens. That would put the film’s debut just ahead of the first Smile, a sleeper hit that opened to $22.6 million in late September 2022 on its way to grossing more than $217 million worldwide against a $17 million budget.

Among the key results, the UK debuted to No. 2 with $2.6M at 607 locations. France, likewise opened at No. 2, taking $2.1M from 358 locations for the biggest horror opening of 2024.

According to Finn, he knew the ending of the movie even before he had worked out the rest of the story. Working through the idea of the smile curse haunting a pop star, led him to the idea of that ending. “I didn’t know how I was going to pull it off, but I had this idea of some final images. And I was like, Alright, that’s a journey that I just absolutely fucking love,” Finn said. “And for me, I love that the ending of this film echoes the ending of the first film, but they also are diametrically opposite.” As Finn explained, the first film ended in “this tiny, dilapidated house in the middle of nowhere by ourselves, in private,” where this new film is on “the main stage at essentially what should be Madison Square Garden and it’s in front of 20,000 screaming fans.”

Among holdovers from the major studios, Deadpool & Wolverine enjoyed yet another milestone as it nears the end of its theatrical run. Over the weekend, the threequel passed Barbie at the domestic box office to rank No. 12 on the list of all-time top-grossing films with an estimated $636.3 million in ticket sales, versus $636.2 million for Barbie, not adjusted for inflation.

Conversely, rival comic book movie Joker: Folie à Deux continued to struggle, finishing its third weekend with a domestic tally of $56.4 million and $192 million globally, including a China opening of $5.9 million.

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Sarah H

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