‘Smile 2’ Earns $2.5 Million in Previews

FRIDAY PM: Paramount’s Smile franchise is keeping up its staying power as Smile 2 is set to open to $22M after a $8.8M Friday that includes previews. The pic is booked at 3,610 theaters. Others see it at this level too. No RT audience score yet.

Busting its way into the top five is A24’s romance drama We Live in Time with around $1.75M today, about $4.3M for the weekend and a running total of $4.6M by EOD Sunday — and that’s at 955 theaters. Rotten Tomatoes critics are 79% certified fresh on the Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield kleenex movie. That means a per theater of $4,5K. Thank, God. For a minute there after three critically acclaimed movies —The Apprentice, Piece by Piece, and Saturday Night– deep sixed, the concern was that the future of adult-driven movies looked bleak. Saturday Night only did $1,4K per theater last weekend off its wide break at 2,308 theaters or $3.4M.

DreamWorks Animation and Universal’s The Wild Robot won’t break down, still in second place in weekend 4 at 3,820 with a $2.65M Friday, $10M 3-day, -29%, and a running total of $101.6M; DWA’s second movie after Kung Fu Panda 4 to pass the century mark this year. What’s up with this original animated movie? “It’s emotional and audiences connect with it, and know the book very well,” compliments a rival distribution studio head.

Cineverse’s Terrifier 3 booked at 2,762 is seeing a second Friday of $2.5M, and second weekend between $7.5M-$8M, -58%, for a high-end ten-day total of $34.9M.

Fourth goes to Warner Bros’ holding-like-rock Beetlejuice Beetlejuce at 3,251 sites, with a seventh Friday of $1.4M, seventh weekend of $5.1M, -30%, and running total of $284M. The movie is available to rent or buy digitally.

FRIDAY AM: Paramount’s Smile 2 made $2.5 million from previews Thursday night that began at 5 p.m. at 3,000 locations, which marks a half-million higher than the 2022 movie’s preview figure. That first Smile went on to a $22.6M opening and legged out to $105.9M.

Presales had indicated high-teens for Smile 2 at this weekend’s domestic box office, but perhaps Paramount execs will have something to grin and the sequel goes higher. Smile 2 has all the PLF screens this weekend, while the Imax venues live with Warner Bros’ Joker: Folie à Deux.

Smile 2 is certified fresh with an 85% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, and PostTrak exits from fans last night are at 3 1/2 stars and 71% positive. Latino and Hispanic moviegoers were strong last night at 36%, with Caucasians showing up at 40%, Black moviegoers at 11% and Asian Americans at 7%.

Today, the sequel opens on 3,619 screens. Smile architect Parker Finn is back for the sequel, which cost $28M. The movie stars Aladdin‘s Naomi Scott as a pop star who freakishly sees grinning people while on tour.

Smile 2‘s preview cash is also on par with Blumhouse/Universal’s Tuesday preview of The First Purge, which did $2.5M back in 2018 on its way to a three-day total of $17.3M, and a five-day of $31.2M.

Meanwhile, Cineverse’s surprise Terrifier 3, per industry estimates, racked up $1.5M Thursday, -16%, for a first week’s take of $26.9M.

A24’s gradual expansion of We Live in Time saw $500,000 last night in previews as it heads to 955 theaters this weekend. The Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh romance drama received a 98% Rotten Tomatoes audience score. Fingers crossed: a lot of hope for another romance comeback at the box office with this movie. The John Crowley-directed title currently counts $820K all in stateside after playing its first weekend in five New York City and Los Angeles theaters bowing to $225,900.

There were previews last night for Ketchup Entertaiment’s Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis dramedy Goodrich. Waiting on a figure, but the audience exits were excellent at 5 stars and 93% positive with a turnout of 61% men, 39% female and a 65% over-35 audience. Critics are 68% fresh for this Hallie Meyers-Shyer-directed movie. Pic’s blurb: Andy Goodrich’s (Keaton) life is upended when his wife and mother of their 9-year-old twins enters a 90-day rehab program, leaving him on his own with their young kids. Thrust into the world of modern parenthood, Goodrich leans on his daughter from his first marriage, Grace (Kunis), as he ultimately evolves into the father Grace never had.