“Beetlejuice” was the first film to gross $41.5 million on Friday and in previews from 4,575 theaters. That’s the second-biggest opening day ever for a September film, trailing only 2017’s “It” ($50.425 million). It is also the biggest film in director Tim Burton’s career, grossing even more than the $40.8 million premiere of “Alice in Wonderland” in 2010.
It’s a triumphant start to the decade-long sequel, produced on a $100 million budget. And for Warner Bros., it’s a much-needed, unbridled success. After a summer in which the studio released utter flops like “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1” (though WB was not a production financier on that film, just a distributor), “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” could now gross over $97 million in an opening weekend in North America. In just three days after release, that would bring in more than half of Warner Bros.’ total domestic revenue in the U.S. all of its summer releases. The film also gets the lion’s share of IMAX and other top-tier large format theaters, boosting its revenue.
Given the PG-13 family rating and the soon-to-be-seasonal horror aesthetic that is slowly coming …
The first Beetlejuice film was a huge success in 1988, becoming the tenth highest-grossing film of the year and giving Tim Burton his breakthrough with just his second film. In the decades that followed, the work spawned an animated series, a Broadway musical and countless pinstriped Halloween costumes. In this new installment, Michael Keaton returns as the titular cider-wielding ghost, who is summoned back to the land of the living to harass the women of the Deetz family (Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara, both reprising their roles from the original). Newcomers include Jenna Ortega, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, Arthur Conti and Justin Theroux.
Also this weekend, A24 is opening its horror film “The Front Room” in 2,095 cinemas. Brandy is in the lead role and the brothers Sam and Max Eggers are directing. The film did not receive good reviews and received only a poor grade of C- in the audience surveys on Cinema Score. Competitors are predicting an opening weekend of $1.5 million, which is well outside the top 5. This is not a horror breakthrough.
After being number one for five of the last six weekends, Disney’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” has slipped back to second place. Marvel Studios’ mega-hit brought in another $1.7 million on Friday. This weekend, the superhero film will overtake “The Incredibles 2” ($608 million) to become the 15th highest-grossing domestic film of all time. Next in the crosshairs: “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” ($620 million).
Showbiz Direct’s first release “Reagan” will also hold up well in its second installment, while rivals are forecasting a 33% drop and $5.1 million gross for the second installment. The Dennis Quaid-starring biopic will gross $20 million domestically on Monday or Tuesday. It was a $25 million production.
Disney is in fourth place with “Alien: Romulus,” which earned another $1 million on Friday. Its domestic total is expected to surpass $100 million next week, making it the 15th film this year to reach that milestone.
Sony’s “It Ends With Us” is expected to finish fifth after earning $1.1 million on Friday. After nearly a month in theaters, the Blake Lively-starring drama is expected to surpass the $140 million mark domestically this weekend, overtaking “A Quiet Place: Day One” to become the 10th highest-grossing North American film of the year.
