Warner Bros. and DC Films’ Black Adam topped an expectedly quiet Halloween weekend peppered with nationwide expansions, awards contenders, and holdover hits. After debuting at the top spot last weekend with a better-than-anticipated $67 million, the superhero film is estimated to add another $27.7 million in its sophomore weekend, pushing its running domestic total to $111 million in 10 days. By comparison, the DC Extended Universe’s first film — 2013’s Man of Steel — made $116 million in its first three days.
But in fairness, Superman is possibly the most popular superhero in history, while Black Adam is a character that star Dwayne Johnson had to fight the suits to play. Speaking of Johnson, this is his 18th film to cross the $100 million mark at the domestic box office, although Black Adam’s 59% drop is on the higher end of the spectrum for him. By comparison, Rampage fell by 44%, Skyscraper dropped by 54%, and San Andreas fell by 53%. Additionally, other DC films such as The Batman and Justice League dropped by 50% and 56%, respectively, in their second weekends.
On a brighter note, Black Adam is actually pacing ahead of Johnson’s Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw by around $3 million. The superhero film had already registered the best-ever solo opening for the star, who put his considerable marketing might into promoting the film’s tacked-on post-credits scene and its dedication to honoring the wishes of DC fans. Although the film’s reported $195 million budget means that there’s still some way to go before it can be declared a win for the struggling DCEU.
Universal’s counter-programmer Ticket to Paradise dropped by just 37% in its second weekend for an estimated $10 million finish. The romantic comedy, starring Julia Roberts and George Clooney as a divorced couple forced to reunite for their daughter’s sudden wedding, has made over $33 million domestically, and over $100 million globally. This is a major victory for not just old-school star-driven studio pictures, but the rom-com genre in general.
The week’s sole new wide release, the horror offering Prey for the Devil opened with an estimated $7 million on the back of poor reviews and negligible buzz. It was followed by two other horror holdovers — Paramount’s Smile and Universal’s Halloween Ends. While Smile is estimated to have made $5 million in its fifth weekend, pushing its domestic tally to over $92 million, Halloween Ends is expected to add $3.8 million in its third weekend, for a running domestic total of a little over $60 million, a pretty decent result for a massively divisive trilogy-capper that was also made available on streaming, day-and-date.
Elsewhere, the warmly reviewed Till expanded nationwide for a $2.8 million estimated weekend finish, while director Todd Field’s Tár couldn’t crack the top 10 as it expanded into over 1,000 theaters. Starring Cate Blanchett — the current front-runner to win the Best Actress Oscar — the film has made $2.5 million domestically so far.
Expect Black Adam to three-peat at the box office next weekend, as the audience prepares for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s reign to begin on November 11. You can watch our interview with Johnson here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.