For the second consecutive weekend, the domestic box office is looking weak: overall estimates are set to come in below $90 million, and the No. 1 film is carrying a rare audience-rejection signal.
The top spot with a sour exit poll
Universal/Blumhouse-Atomic Monster’s Other Mommy opened to an estimated $13 million on Friday from 3,365 screens and is on track for a $28 million three-day debut. The film cost $19 million to produce, so it is expected to cross break-even during its theatrical window.
The problem is word of mouth. Critics gave it a 20% Rotten Tomatoes score and audiences gave it 47%, with a D+ on CinemaScore. That is the lowest CinemaScore grade since Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis received a D+ in September 2024. In exhibition terms, a D+ usually means the opening-weekend number has misread demand: audiences are voting against the film in real time. TheWrap reported Monday actuals could land closer to $20 million, which would materially change the profit picture.
Issue-driven films can’t find the crowd
Sony/Columbia/Alcon’s The Social Reckoning is the weekend’s sharper warning. It earned $2.1 million on Friday from 2,606 locations and is looking at a $6 million opening. That is under one-third of the $22.4 million the franchise predecessor, The Social Network, opened to in fall 2010 before adjusting for inflation.
The film, about the 2021 investigation into Facebook’s role in the January 6 riots, has a modest $30 million net production spend and co-financing from Alcon; Sony can take the hit comfortably after the windfall from Spider-Man: Brand New Day. But the wider pattern is what matters for slate planners: wide-release audiences have repeatedly skipped current-events and political material, from Digger to She Said. A known issue isn’t a built-in audience.
Holdovers and the rest of the chart
Amazon MGM’s Verity remains the bright spot despite falling 61% to $12.5 million in its second weekend. The $40 million Colleen Hoover adaptation now has a 10-day domestic total of $54.8 million. Elsewhere, Angel’s Angel and the Badman opened to $2.4 million from 2,263 locations, with a 23% critics score and a B+ CinemaScore.
- Second straight weekend with overall estimates below $90 million.
- Other Mommy: $28M estimated opening on a $19M budget, D+ CinemaScore.
- The Social Reckoning: $6M opening, under a third of The Social Network’s 2010 start.
- Verity: $54.8M after 10 days despite a 61% second-weekend drop.
Read the Sunday number, not the Friday headline
For entertainment marketers and media planners, this weekend is a clean case study in opening-day numbers versus staying power. An opening day can be built on pre-sales, fan rush and a thin slate. The Sunday actual is a better signal of whether casual viewers showed up after the first wave of negative scores. If Other Mommy’s actuals slip toward $20 million, the takeaway is not that it won the weekend; it is that a D+ grade compressed demand into one day rather than creating a run.
Source: TheWrap
