Anime reigned supreme at the box office this weekend, as the industry prepares for a series of major November releases. With few new wide offerings for the Halloween frame, audiences chose the latest anime blockbuster over a new Colleen Hoover adaptation, a rock biopic, and a found-footage horror film.
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc claimed the top spot with a powerful $17.2 million debut. The film, a sequel to the popular anime series, delivered one of the strongest openings for an anime feature in recent years. Its performance trails only 2024’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training, 2021’s Demon Slayer: Mugen Train ($21.2 million), and 2022’s Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero ($21.1 million).
Last week’s champion, Black Phone 2, slipped to second place, earning $13 million. The horror sequel saw a respectable 52% drop, bringing its 10-day domestic total to $49 million, slightly ahead of the original film’s pace at the same point. With a global tally of $80.4 million, the film is on track for a solid domestic finish in the $70-80 million range.
Debuting in third was Regretting You, the latest adaptation of a Colleen Hoover novel, which opened to $12.8 million. The result is a significant step down from the massive $50 million opening of It Ends With Us last summer. Made on a $30 million budget, the film will need strong legs to become a financial success for Paramount.
The Bruce Springsteen biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere opened in fourth place with a modest $9.1 million. The debut is a disappointment for the $55 million production, falling short of openings for recent music biopics about artists like Bob Dylan, Queen, and Elvis Presley. Tepid reviews have likely dampened both audience interest and its awards season prospects.
Meanwhile, Disney’s Tron: Ares continued to struggle, adding just $4.9 million in its third weekend for a domestic total of $63.3 million. With only $60 million earned overseas, its global gross stands at a disappointing $123 million, positioning the film to be one of the year’s biggest financial losses.
Rounding out the top ten, the R-rated comedy Good Fortune earned $3.1 million for an $11.7 million total, while Derek Cianfrance’s Roofman added $1.9 million to reach a cumulative $19.2 million. The new horror film Shelby Oaks opened to $2.3 million, a solid debut for distributor Neon. Tying with Shelby Oaks for seventh place, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another also grossed $2.3 million, pushing its domestic total to $65.7 million and its worldwide earnings past $180 million.
In limited release, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia scored the director’s best-ever limited opening, earning $690,000 from just 17 theaters for an impressive per-theater average of $40,588. Elsewhere, Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind expanded into 186 theaters and grossed $266,000, marking the best second-weekend performance of her career.
Looking ahead, the Halloween weekend will be light on new studio films. The main attraction will be Universal’s nationwide 40th-anniversary re-release of the 1985 classic Back to the Future, which could contend for the number one spot once again.
