Sorry ‘Black Phone 2’ tops worst weekend of 2025
Halloween was light at the box office.
Without any new releases, plus the dreaded holiday misfortune on Friday (which meant families were trick-or-treating and didn’t visit the local movie theater), ticket sales have all but stopped. Revenue between Friday and Sunday was just $49 million, marking the worst weekend of the entire year, according to Comscore.
Another scary statistic: This concludes the least profitable October in 27 years with domestic earnings stalling at an abysmal $425 million, the poorest amount since October 1997’s $385 million, not adjusted for inflation. This shameful record does not include 2020 when theaters did not rebound from the pandemic.
Although Halloween is traditionally a dying period at the box office, October is usually the time when studios start releasing their award nominees. Instead of making a dent at the box office, big-budget Oscar contenders alike, such as Dwayne Johnson’s The Smashing Machine, Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, Disney’s Tron: Ares and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, have struggled to show signs of life.
In a surprise win, the movie “Regretting You,” adapted by Colleen Hoover, rose to first place, earning $8.1 million in 3,424 theaters in its second showing. However, Universal’s “Black Phone 2” was a bit behind with $8 million from 3,305 venues – so final demand could change when final numbers are confirmed on Monday.
“Regretting You” has dropped just 41% since its debut, pushing ticket sales to $27.5 million in North America and $50 million worldwide against a $30 million budget. Hoover is the author of “It Ends with Us,” which was released last year. Two of her other novels, “The Truth” and “Reminders of Him,” are being adapted by other studios for theatrical release in 2026.
Black Phone 2 has grossed $61 million domestically and $104 million worldwide to date. The spooky sequel is the only Blumhouse release this year to approach the $100 million mark, though December’s “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” will try to continue the good fortune.
In another possible finish, Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters” re-release would likely take third place with Sony and Crunchyroll’s “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc,” with both films estimated to have grossed $6 million over the weekend.
Netflix has not announced the grosses of “KPop Demon Hunters,” which opened in 2,890 theaters over the weekend, so expectations come from rival studios and exhibitors. This is the second big-screen stint for the animated musical, which debuted in theaters in August (after becoming Netflix’s most popular film of all time) and topped out in North America with nearly $18 million.
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, which topped the box office last weekend, has grossed $30 million in North America so far. Like many anime films, Chainsaw Man was a huge success at the international box office, earning $109 million overseas and $139 million worldwide.
In fifth place, “Bugonia,” the latest collaboration between director Yorgos Lanthimos and star Emma Stone, expanded nationwide with revenues of $4.8 million from 2,043 theaters. The film, in which Stone plays a high-ranking technology executive who is kidnapped by two conspiracy theorists who believe she is an alien being sent to destroy Earth, received a “B” in CinemaScore polls. However, this kind of middling reception is not unusual for a polarizing film, as Lanthimos is wont to do. Ticket buyers were predominantly younger males, with men representing 61% of audiences, and the 24-34 age group representing 39% of audiences.
More to come…