That’s an improvement from the $89 million in revenue and just $3.6 million in net income that Imax reported in Q2 of this year amid strike-induced production delays in Hollywood and the poor performance of May tentpole films like Universal’s “The Fall Guy” and Warner Bros.’ “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.”

Here are the key takeaways:

Revenue: $91.45 million, down 12% year over year from $103.90 million

Net Income: $13.90 million, up 16% from $11.99 million.

EPS: Adjusted net earnings per share of 35 cents, which beat consensus estimates from Zacks Investment Research of 22 cents a share.

Box Office Grosses: $239 million in global grosses, a plummet of $107.6 million, or 31%, from the previous-year quarter.

Missing in this year second quarter for Imax was the more than $180 million in grosses it pulled from “Oppenheimer,” IMAX’s fifth highest-grossing title of all time, the company said.

Universal/Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4” and Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” were also among the top grossing films for the format in the quarter.

“IMAX continues to set the table for a new, sustained era of growth with a 2025 and 2026 slate that is as promising as we’ve ever seen,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “With an exceptional content pipeline, accelerating system installations, and robust sales activity worldwide, we are very well-positioned to execute and capitalize on the opportunity ahead over the next several years.”

Expecting a record 2025

Q4 2024 may see slightly lower revenue for Imax than expected due to the extremely poor performance of “Joker: Folie a Deux,” which only this past weekend crossed $200 million in global grosses after its predecessor became the first $1 billion R-rated hit in 2019.

But several films are teed up to make up for what “Joker 2” couldn’t earn, most notably Universal’s “Wicked,” which is seeing extremely strong pre-sales and is on its way to a potential $100 million-plus opening weekend. Paramount’s “Gladiator II” and Disney’s “Mufasa” are also among the films on Imax’s end-of-year slate list.

The company expects even bigger things in 2025, projecting it will have its biggest year ever at the box office with $1.2 billion in global grosses. Films like Warner Bros./DC Studios’ “Superman,” Disney/Marvel Studios’ “Fantastic 4: First Steps” and 20th Century’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” are among the titles set to top the charts in the first year since 2019 where the release slate is not expected to be hampered by pandemic or strike delays.

Meanwhile, Imax continues its campaign to expand its global auditorium footprint, installing 49 new systems worldwide this past quarter. In total, 119 new deals have been made by Imax with theater chains worldwide this year, putting it on pace to exceed the full-year total of 129 in 2023 and the high end of the 130-150 deals projected by the company at the start of the year.

The post Imax Revenue Down 12% From ‘Oppenheimer’ Boom, But Improves From Q2 to $91.5 Million appeared first on TheWrap.

“Venom 3” still has the highest domestic opening this month after the collapse of “Joker: Folie a Deux,” but the film is falling well short of the $80 million domestic launch of the first “Venom” in 2018. It has also received a B- on CinemaScore, lower than the B+ of the previous two “Venom” films.

On the brighter side, the film carries a production budget of just $120 million, much lower than many of its comic book movie brethren. There also won’t be any major action films hitting theaters until Amazon MGM’s “Red One” on Nov. 15, which may help the film’s legs even if the word-of-mouth isn’t as strong.

But it is likely that “Venom 3” will have to lean on international markets to turn a modest theatrical profit. The film made $46 million on its opening weekend in China, well short of the $107.6 million that the first “Venom” made in that country but enough to make it the largest Hollywood opening this year as Chinese moviegoers have largely left American imports behind. Mexico was the second highest market with $7.3 million, followed by South Korea with $5.8 million.

Paramount’s “Smile 2” is in second place with $9.4 million in its second weekend, a 57% drop from its $23 million opening. The horror sequel is already a modest success with $40.7 million domestic and $83.7 million worldwide against a $28 million production budget, even if it is behind the pace of the first “Smile” which had a 10-day domestic total of $50 million.

In a virtual tie for third are Focus Features’ awards contender “Conclave” and Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot,” each with $6.5 million. “Conclave “is meeting pre-release projections for its opening in 1,753 theaters, earning audience scores of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B+ on CinemaScore as it faces specialty competition next weekend from the limited release of Searchlight’s “A Real Pain” and the expansion of Neon’s “Anora,” which made $867,000 from 34 theaters this weekend for a per theater average of $25,500 and a $1.6 million limited release total.

“The Wild Robot,” meanwhile, continues to exhibit excellent legs in its fifth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $111 million.

Also in a virtual tie for the No. 5 spot are two films that couldn’t be any more different: A24’s romantic drama “We Live in Time” and Cineverse/Bloody Disgusting’s unrated slasher “Terrifier 3,” both with $4.7 million.

“We Live In Time” expanded nationwide this weekend to 2,924 locations, now sporting a domestic total of $11.6 million after three weekends in theaters. “Terrifier 3,” which is still bringing in Halloween crowds, now has a domestic total of $44 million against a paltry $2.5 million production and marketing spend.

Finally, Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” has exited the top 5 in its eighth weekend in theaters, adding $3.1 million. With $288 million grossed, it is the highest domestic total for Warner this year.

The post ‘Venom 3’ Leans on Overseas Box Office After Franchise-Low $51 Million Domestic Opening appeared first on TheWrap.

That is short of the $65 million pre-release projections for the Marvel antihero film and well short of the $80 million opening weekend of the first “Venom” in 2018.

On the flipside, overseas grosses are looking very good with $72.8 million so far through Friday and an estimated $128 million through Sunday, which would give the film a $180 million global launch. With a $120 million production budget — well below “Joker 2” and many other contemporary comic book films — “Venom 3” still has a chance to post a decent theatrical profit if it gets continued international turnout.

As for the softer showing in the U.S., it may be possible that the Yankees-Dodgers World Series, the first involving both the top markets of New York and Los Angeles since 1981, is having some impact on walk-up traffic. But early audience reception for the film isn’t as strong as those of past “Venom” films, which were able to buck negative reviews from critics.

While parents and kids gave “Venom 3” a 5/5 on PostTrak, the overall grade on CinemaScore came in at a B-, below the B+ given to the past two “Venom” films. We have seen in the past that even a middling CinemaScore grade for a wide release can be a sign of poor legs ahead, so we will see how “The Last Dance” does next weekend, when it will be facing a number of specialty releases like Searchlight’s “A Real Pain” and adult fare like Sony/TriStar’s “Here.”

Also opening this weekend is Focus Features’ “Conclave,” which is opening to a $6.5 million launch from 1,731 locations, meeting pre-release projections. Starring Ralph Fiennes and directed by “All Quiet on the Western Front” director Edward Berger, the film earned a B+ on CinemaScore to go with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 92% critics and 82% audience.

The post ‘Venom 3’ Slithers Towards $52 Million Box Office Opening appeared first on TheWrap.

Now, after a successful 2021 sequel, theaters are getting the trilogy capper “Venom: The Last Dance,” which will try to follow in the steps of its predecessors and win over fans despite leaving critics unimpressed with a 40% Rotten Tomatoes score. And it’s showing once again how the franchise is the most successful IP in Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff universe, which has otherwise struggled theatrically.

At a time when many tentpole films, including the recent flop “Joker: Folie a Deux,” have seen their budgets inch higher and higher, Sony and Columbia Pictures have kept “Venom 3” to a relatively low $120 million before marketing costs. That’s a good thing, as the film is currently projected for an opening weekend of $65 million, lower than the $80 million opening of the first “Venom” and the $90 million start of its sequel, “Let There Be Carnage.” Sony’s global projections are set at $150 million.

“Let There Be Carnage” came out three years ago at a time when theaters were fighting to get back on their feet after the pandemic, making its $213 million domestic and $506 million global total a rather impressive feat. The first “Venom” grossed a surprising $856 million worldwide, though much of that came from its $269 million run in China, a country whose audiences have since largely abandoned Hollywood imports.

Regardless of how it got there, “Venom” has been the standout success in Sony’s three-pronged Marvel strategy. Along with the Tom Holland “Spider-Man” films produced by Marvel Studios and the animated “Spider-Verse” trilogy, “Venom” is one of several attempts by Sony to make films based off of Spider-Man characters it holds the IP rights to.

While “Morbius” broke even theatrically and “Madame Web” flopped — both were panned by critics and audiences — “Venom” capitalized on the popularity of its main character at a time when interest in Marvel was still riding high amid the MCU’s Infinity Saga. Hardy’s darkly comedic take on the character sustained that interest, making “Let There Be Carnage” a promise of the big screen fun that audiences had missed while stuck in their homes.

“It’s ironic almost that Sony happened to put out ‘Venom’ first and thought that it could be replicated, but it’s not so simple,” Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock told TheWrap. “Venom is one of the best Spidey characters and most well-known, and the word-of-mouth has been so strong that we’ve seen really strong walkups for the first two films. I wouldn’t be surprised to see ‘The Last Dance’ do that again.”

To match the box office success of “Venom 2,” the third installment will have to do so without Carnage, the villain from the second film from which it takes its title. Played by Woody Harrelson, Carnage became Venom’s most famous adversary after he made the jump from villain to antihero in the Marvel comics and was a major part of the sequel’s drawing power among fans.

“The Last Dance” has new villains, the foremost being Knull, the creator of Venom and all the other symbiotes. But unlike “Carnage,” that’s not the main selling point in the marketing.

Instead, Sony has focused on the relationship between Venom and his human host, Eddie Brock, which fans have so deeply embraced with the shipping name “Symbrock” that Sony played into it with a romcom-tinged ad for the first “Venom” when it released on Blu-Ray. “Let There Be Carnage” then leaned more heavily into the campy yet sincere nature of Venom and Eddie’s relationship as they work through their differences.

The trailers for “The Last Dance” have teased that Eddie and Venom’s time together may be coming to an end. Whether that ends up being the case is the question that is the film’s main hook.

With films like “Joker 2,” “The Marvels,” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” among the comic book sequels that have fallen short at the box office, it’s clear that audiences will ditch a film from the once-bulletproof genre if the quality isn’t there. Conversely, hits like “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” each set themselves apart in the minds of audiences and showed they were more than just another superhero film.

Is the promise of more symbiote shenanigans, regardless of the actual plot, enough to satisfy the biggest “Venom” fans and build the post-release buzz needed to sustain the film in the weeks ahead? A $65 million opening, while lower than its predecessors, would be a good starting point for “Venom 3” to turn a theatrical profit. But it will be for naught if moviegoers who turned out for “Carnage” after a year in quarantine decide in large enough numbers that they’ve had their fill.

On the arthouse side, Focus Features is releasing its Oscar contender, “Conclave,” in 1,750 theaters. Directed by Edward Berger, in his follow-up to the Best International Feature winning adaptation of “All Quiet on the Western Front,” the film stars Ralph Fiennes as the cardinal tasked by the Catholic Church to oversee the election of the next pope, only to discover a shocking conspiracy.

The film is currently projected for an opening weekend of $4-6 million and was produced by FilmNation on a $20 million budget. Focus acquired the film’s domestic rights last year. It premiered in September at TIFF.

The post ‘Venom 3’ Tries to Make Box Office Lightning Strike One More Time appeared first on TheWrap.

Paramount’s sequel to Parker Finn’s 2022 breakout horror hit is matching the start of its predecessor with a $23 million opening weekend from 3,619 theaters. With only a slightly higher production budget at $28 million and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 83% critics and 84% audience, “Smile 2” will be an instant theatrical success as it tries to use the Halloween season to match the $105 million domestic/$217 million global total of the first “Smile.”

“Terrifier 3,” meanwhile, is proving that there’s nothing flash-in-the-pan about its $18.8 million opening weekend, earning $9.3 million this weekend for a respectable 51% second weekend drop in the face of major studio competition as it sits in third place on the charts.

With a 10-day total of $36.2 million against its miniscule $2.5 million production and marketing spend, “Terrifier 3” will have one of the strongest returns on investment seen this year and is on pace for a $50 million-plus domestic run that will make it one of the year’s top 5 highest grossing horror films.

Speaking of indie success, Neon’s “Anora” is also off to a good start in its six-theater opening in New York and Los Angeles. The fifth consecutive Palme D’Or winning release from Neon, “Anora” earned $540,000 this weekend for a $90,000 per theater average, the best of 2024.

Sean Baker’s dramedy boasts critical acclaim with a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score and has cemented its status as a top Oscar contender next year. It will begin its nationwide rollout next weekend.

Elsewhere on the charts, Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot” kept its hold on the No. 2 spot, passing the $100 million domestic mark in its fourth weekend as it added $10 million to bring its total to $101 million. Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is in fourth with $5 million in its seventh weekend, bringing its total to $284 million domestic.

In fifth is A24’s new romantic drama release “We Live in Time” starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, earning $4.1 million from just 985 theaters as it prepares to expand next weekend. Reception for the film has been positive with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 80% critics and 89% audience.

Finally, Warner Bros.’ “Joker: Folie a Deux” has crashed out of the top 5 in its third weekend, losing a stunning 1,245 screens as it made just $2.1 million. Its total now stands at $56.4 million domestic and $192 million worldwide as its fate has long been sealed as one of the biggest box office flops of the year.

The post ‘Smile 2’ Keeps Box Office’s Horror Bonanza Rolling With $23 Million Opening appeared first on TheWrap.

Two years ago, “Smile” earned a $22.6 million opening in September, going on to gross $109.5 million domestic and $217.4 million worldwide against a $17 million production budget. “Smile 2,” which stars Naomi Scott as a pop star doomed by a fatal curse, only has a slightly higher budget at $28 million and has earned positive reception with a B on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 84% critics and 86% audience.

The good news for theaters is that none of this has come at the expense of “Terrifier 3,” which is continuing to draw in audiences daring to take on the challenge of watching Damien Leone’s ultraviolent slasher threequel. In its second weekend, the Cineverse/Bloody Disgusting release is headed for a $9.6 million frame, dropping just 48% from its $18.8 million start as it heads for an estimated two weekend total of $36.4 million.

With this result, “Terrifier 3” is set to gross at least $50 million against its miniscule $2.5 million production and marketing spend, becoming one of the top 5 horror films of the box office this year. With Halloween still ahead, all signs point to the film continuing to leg out.

Also opening in the top 5 this weekend is A24/StudioCanal’s romantic drama “We Live in Time” starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, making $1.8 million from 985 theaters as it heads for an industry estimated $4.3 million opening weekend. Reception for the film has been strong with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 80% critics and 94% audience.

And on the limited release side, Neon’s “Anora” is set to have an incredible opening in New York and Los Angeles. Based on industry estimates, “Anora” is set to earn $650,000 from just six theaters, giving it the best per theater average of the year at $108,333.

The post ‘Smile 2’ Matches Its Predecessor With $23 Million Box Office Opening appeared first on TheWrap.

Two years ago, “Smile,” the feature debut of director Parker Finn, premiered at Fantastic Fest to enthusiastic praise and became a fresh horror hit for Paramount with $217 million grossed worldwide against a $17 million budget. Its success earned Finn a first-look deal with the studio, and now he’s back with a sequel that continues plot threads left behind by the first film while following Naomi Scott’s pop star as its new doomed protagonist.

Since entering tracking, “Smile 2” has been projected for an opening weekend similar to or possibly slightly higher than the $22.6 million start of its predecessor. But “Terrifier 3” might end up being a tougher competitor for the attention of horror fans than suspected, as evidenced by its strong showing this week that points to an audience for the gory slasher beyond that first weekend.

Buoyed by headlines of its underdog rise to becoming the No. 1 movie in America, “Terrifier 3” earned an excellent $2.7 million on Monday and added another $2 million on Tuesday. It is clear at this point that despite its gory, unrated nature — or more likely, because of it — Damien Leone’s twisted slasher film is finding new moviegoers beyond those who were fans of the last “Terrifier” two years ago, increasing the chances that the microbudget title continues to leg out through Halloween and possibly beyond.

And that begs the question of whether these two horror sequels can coexist in theaters.

“They might both be horror, but they are very different approaches to the genre,” said Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “‘Terrifier 3’ is niche, and I say that in a good way, while ‘Smile 2’ is part of a major studio’s form of horror even if it is rated R and has its own unique filmmaker style.”

Dergarabedian admitted that it is strange to look at “Smile 2,” an R-rated film in which a demonic creature possesses people and makes them commit suicide, as the comparatively tame horror option in theaters right now. But Dergarabedian sees the film as a potential option for people who want to see a horror film but not one that breaks every ultraviolent boundary like “Terrifier 3”

“Those who want to really test their limits with an unrated cult film can do so, while those looking for something a bit more mainstream will have an option as well,” he said.

Reception, as always, is the X factor. At time of writing, “Smile 2” has an 81% Rotten Tomatoes score, and early reception will determine whether it is seen as a worthy successor to the first “Smile” or if it falls short of the buzz that “Terrifier 3” is earning right now.

Also rolling out in six theaters in New York and Los Angeles is Neon’s “Anora,” the critically acclaimed, Palme D’Or-winning dramedy from director Sean Baker that has already been anointed as a top Oscar contender. Starring Mikey Madison as a sex worker who ends up running afoul of the wealthy parents of an immature young man from Russia who elopes with her, the film has a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score.

But this weekend at the box office, all eyes are on whether “Terrifier 3” can edge another mainstream studio title out of the top slot.

The post ‘Smile 2’ Set for Horror Box Office Showdown With ‘Terrifier 3’ appeared first on TheWrap.

This weekend, the Christmas-themed horror threequel “Terrifier 3,” beat out the strong third weekend of Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot” and the historically poor second weekend of Warner Bros.’ “Joker: Folie a Deux” to take the No. 1 spot at the box office with an $18.3 million opening weekend from 2,516 theaters.

It’s the fourth-highest opening weekend for a horror film this year, topping movies like Universal/Blumhouse’s “Speak No Evil” and “Night Swim” as well as Lionsgate’s “Never Let Go” and “The Strangers — Chapter 1.”

It’s a weekend that has floored Chris McGurk, CEO of the company that distributed “Terrifier 3,” Cineverse. Formerly known as Cinedigm and owner of dozens of bespoke streaming services and media companies, including the popular horror media group Bloody Disgusting, Cineverse spent just $500,000 out of pocket on marketing “Terrifier 3,” a slasher sequels that resurrects Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) for more gory antics, on top of the mere $2 million production budget for the film.

“David beat Goliath,” McGurk told TheWrap on Sunday. “Even if we had just made $5 million, we would have had a home run. $10 million would be the grand slam of grand slams. But to actually do over $18 million and to win the weekend amongst all those studio tentpoles is just really unbelievable. It’s another really great shot in the arm for independent film to see a little movie like this that was produced at that budget level and marketed the way we marketed it win the day.”

McGurk talked about the years of work by the Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting that went into turning “Terrifier” into a new hit slasher series, as well as trying to expand interest in Art the Clown’s gory antics beyond the most hardcore of horror fans.

Let’s go back two years ago to “Terrifier 2,” which really established the foundation for this opening weekend to happen. Tell us how this film came about and how Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting were able to grow this fanbase.

We were lucky enough to buy two horror assets over the years. One was Bloody Disgusting in 2021, and they’re the biggest name in online horror with editorial, reviews, festivals, that kind of thing, all done by great people who really understand the horror business. About seven months before that, we bought a streaming channel called ScreamBox, which I think is the number two horror streaming channel behind Shudder.

They were out there searching for horror properties for us, and they knew of this 2016 direct-to-video film called “Terrifer.” It didn’t do all that great, but it really caught fire online. So the Bloody Disgusting guys said to us, “You know, there’s this franchise that could have the next Freddy Krueger with this character, Art the Clown. We really should buy it and release it.”

So they had a sequel produced for $250,000 by Damien Leone, who wrote and directed it, and his partner, Phil Falcone, and we went out and bought it and kind of did it as a stunt release. We’re a streaming company with 30 channels tailored to different audiences, and any film releases are in service to that. The initial plan with “Terrifier 2” was just to put it in theaters with Iconic Events for a weekend and then release it on ScreamBox. But then it just exploded and made $1.2 million that weekend and we thought that we really underestimated it.

From there, we ended up making over $10 million over six weekends, and there’s a lot of credit due to Bloody Disgusting for guiding the viral marketing, which led to interviews with Howard Stern and The New York Times. We got probably $5 million in media value from all that coverage but we only spent $250,000 out of pocket. So when it came time to do the third film, we knew we had something big for theaters and did a lot more pre-planning for “Terrifier 3.”

And what went into that pre-planning? What did you learn from “Terrifier 2” that went into the prep for “Terrifier 3”?

The first thing, the thing we learned more than anything, was the power of our ecosystem. We have 30 bespoke channels with 800 million viewers we can market to. We have over 40 podcasts in our podcast network, and we had to leverage it as much as we could. We also built an ad sales team and technology we own ourselves that helps us identify where the fans are and how we can market to them in the most effective way.

But the second thing, I think overall, was the positioning of this movie. Now, you know, the last time, we clearly got all the hardcore slasher and gore fans to go. Our whole goal this time was to focus on the dark humor and the camp of the films and turn Art the Clown into the next Freddy like the Bloody Disgusting guys thought he could be. Focus on the scares and the humor more than the gore, because the gore fans are already going to come in. So we tried to market to the audience that might tag along with those gore fans, a more female crowd and Hispanic and African-American audiences as well.

It sounds a bit like selling a really spicy hot sauce. Lots of people love spicy food, but only a certain number of them love really setting their tongues on fire, so you’ve got to sell to everyone else how good the sauce tastes.

Yeah, sort of like that. We really wanted to eventize the movie, daring people to see it in a group because you don’t want to be left out of the conversation. And it paid off because we saw heavy group turnouts where people were showing up in groups of nine or 10.

Some horror films just keep going for weeks while others, while turning a profit on opening weekend, end up not extending beyond that core audience. From the data you’ve seen and with “Smile 2” coming next weekend, do you see any chance of “Terrifier 3” expanding its audience?

Absolutely! Now again, even if we don’t, we’ve still already turned a huge profit. But the fans absolutely love this film. We have a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score with the audience, and it is clear from the $18 million that we’ve already expanded the audience, especially with women and with the huge group turnout. And I think that on top of that, the fact that we’re the No. 1 movie in America’s going to help even further increase the curiosity factor. We’re the Little Engine That Could and I think that’s going to bring in newcomers who are going to dare to see if they can watch this movie.

And there’s a chance this only gets bigger, because the film ends with a clear sequel hook.

You know, Damien has said there are one or two more in him. I think he actually said there might be a fifth. What’s unique about this is it’s completely, totally, 100% his vision, with no studio interference or anything. From the beginning, our thing was, “Come with us, we’ll be able to market this movie and distribute it, but it’s your movie, uncut and unrated.” I don’t think anybody else out there has the guts to do that. So we’re letting Damien realize all of his creative ambitions here, he’s done a fantastic job so far. I think he’s very, very focused on the full arc of this franchise, so hopefully in the few months you’ll see an announcement or two in that space.

“Terrifier” is absolutely its own beast like any hit film, but as you said, you have a whole network of podcasts and streaming platforms catering to different interests. After what Cineverse has done with “Terrifier,” are you looking at trying to find breakout hits in other genres?

I think the verticals we’re strong in besides horror are anime/Asian content, family content — we have a platform called Dove that is family focused — and children’s content like “Barney” and “Garfield.” We’re actively searching for content in those verticals, but as you can imagine it is horror where we’ve got people knocking on the door with movies right now.

We kind of got out of the theatrical releasing business after we had this movie in 2013 called “Short Term 12” which was a critical darling. I have the Golden Tomato award in my office because it was the best reviewed movie on Rotten Tomatoes that year. It was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who does Marvel movies now, and it had Brie Larson, Rami Malek and LaKeith Stanfield all in the movie. The film helped make all their careers and the whole thing, but we released it theatrically and had to spend a couple million dollars to release it, and we lost a lot of money in the movie.

So we pulled out of theaters and pivoted to building up this streaming network, and it turns out, as “Terrifier” showed us, that we’re in a better position to release theatrically now because of the marketing and home platform structure that we have built up. Now that we have that in place, we’re much more confident about our ability to try to do these other verticals. We’re actively looking for other content to follow this model and to say to other independent studios, “Come to us and we’ll help market your movies in what we think is a much smarter, targeted and much more effective way.” In that way, I think it’ll be a real positive for the independent film business.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

The post ‘Terrifier 3’ Distributor Reveals How ‘David Beat Goliath’ at the Box Office With a $500,000 Marketing Budget appeared first on TheWrap.

Todd Phillips’ $190 million sequel to “Joker,” the first R-rated film to gross $1 billion worldwide, has fallen 81% from its $37.8 million opening weekend to just $7 million. According to data from Box Office Mojo and exhibitor sources, that will be the worst second weekend percentage drop for any wide release with an opening weekend of $30 million or more if it stands after Monday actuals are reported.

“Terrifier 3,” meanwhile, a film with a combined production and marketing spend of just $2.5 million, has completely eclipsed the $10.6 million domestic total of “Terrifier 2.” Even if it sees its second weekend numbers fall off a cliff due to not having a significant group of interested moviegoers beyond hardcore fans, Damien Leone’s slasher film is still enjoying a massive return on investment, having earned higher opening weekends than this year’s Blumhouse films “Speak No Evil” and “Night Swim.”

In non-clown news, Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot” continues to leg out spectacularly through its widespread acclaim, dropping just 29% in its third weekend to $13.5 million. The film is also being aided by a significant number of kids being off school on Monday for Columbus/Indigenous Peoples’ Day, increasing matinee turnout.

With running estimated totals of $83.7 million domestic and $148.4 million worldwide for “The Wild Robot,” DreamWorks has greenlit a sequel for the film.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” continues to be a respite for Warner Bros. amid the failure of “Joker 2,” grossing $7.1 million in its sixth weekend as it continues to leg out as a Halloween offering. While primarily an American hit with only just $137.5 million grossed overseas and $415 million worldwide, the sequel’s $275 million domestic total puts it on the threshold of passing “Dune: Part Two” as Warner’s highest grossing film this year in the U.S. and Canada.

Completing the top 5 is Focus Features’ “Piece By Piece,” a Lego animated documentary about Grammy-winning musician Pharrell Williams opening to $3.8 million from 1,851 theaters. The newcomer just edged out Paramount’s “Transformers One,” which earned $3.6 million in its fourth weekend for a disappointing $52.8 million domestic total.

A grab bag of wide releases and specialty offerings fill out the rest of the top 10, with Sony/Columbia’s “Saturday Night” in seventh with a muted $3.5 million opening weekend from 2,309 theaters after a platform release in Los Angeles and New York last weekend.

Based around the first ever broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” in 1975, the Jason Reitman film has been well received with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 80% critics and 90% audience, but faces an extremely uphill climb to turn a theatrical profit even against its modest $30 million reported production budget.

In eighth is Toho’s “My Hero Academia: You’re Next,” the fourth film from the hit anime series which earned $3 million from 1,845 theaters. It is beating out a seasonal re-release of Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” from Disney, which made $2.3 million from 1,700 locations this weekend.

Finally, there’s Briarcliff Entertainment’s “The Apprentice,” a film starring Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as his mentor, Roy Cohn. The film got much publicity in the trades after its Cannes premiere for the reluctance of major Hollywood distributors to pick up the film in the midst of Trump’s campaign to return to the White House, but only grossed $1.5 million from 1,740 theaters.

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Released in 2,514 locations, “Terrifier 3” earned $8.1 million on its opening day, including $2.5 million from Thursday previews, putting it on track for a $16 million weekend. That blows past the entire $10.6 million theatrical run of “Terrifier 2” two years ago.

Even if the unrated horror film sees a significant second weekend drop between its limited audience and competition from Paramount’s “Smile 2,” “Terrifier 3” is already theatrically profitable given its paltry combined production and marketing spend of $2.5 million. Driving hype largely through word-of-mouth among gorehounds who saw the previous two installments, “Terrifier 3” has become a can’t-miss film for those who want to see how much bloodshed they can take in a slasher film.

“Joker 2,” meanwhile, could fall as far as fourth place on this week’s charts with an industry estimated $6.8 million second weekend. That is not only behind Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot” but also neck-and-neck with Warner Bros.’ own “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which is now set to become Warner’s top domestic grosser this year with $7.1 million in its sixth weekend and $275 million overall.

With just $51.3 million for its estimated 10-day domestic total, “Folie a Deux” has earned roughly a quarter of the $193.5 million that the first “Joker” earned to this point in its theatrical run in 2019.

“The Wild Robot,” meanwhile, dropped just 27% in its third weekend, continuing to ride its widespread acclaim and status as the only animated family film in theaters to a $100 million-plus domestic run with $84 million grossed in North America so far.

Paramount’s “Transformers One” completes the top 5 with $3.7 million in its fourth weekend and a domestic total just shy of $53 million. It currently stands just ahead of Focus Features’ “Piece By Piece,” Morgan Neville’s Lego stop-motion documentary about the life and career of Pharrell Williams, which is opening to $3.5 million from 1,865 theaters.

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