Paramount’s track record this year has been nothing short of extraordinary. The studio’s sixth theatrical hit, the horror filmSmile, has now passed the $50 million mark domestically after over-performing in its second weekend. The film opened with a stellar $22.6 million in its debut weekend, and followed it up with an $18.4 million weekend two, registering one of the leanest drops ever for an R-rated horror title.
Smilefell by just 18% in its sophomore weekend, which is only slightly higher than the 15% second weekend drop thatJordan Peele’sGet Outposted back in 2017. It’s also the strongest hold for a number one opener sinceCrazy Rich Asians’ 6% second-weekend drop back in pre-pandemic 2018. Worldwide, the film is on the cusp of passing the $100 million mark, with $92 million in the bank already.
Smilecost a reported $17 million to produce, and was originally destined for a direct-to-streaming debut, which Paramount decided against after strong test screenings. This is the second time in the same month that a horror title expected to premiere online was given a theatrical release purely based on positive buzz. Only a few weeks ago, Disney made the rare call to release a 20th Century Studios title,Barbarian, in theaters and not on Hulu after promising early screenings.
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Barbariancost a modest $4 million to produce and has grossed nearly $40 million globally so far. It succeeded on the strength of itsfun trailers, which were pegged on the explicit instruction that audiences shouldn’t consume any promotional material for the movie at all, and go in cold. Paramount also usedinventive marketing techniquesto generate publicity forSmile, which included purchasing seats at baseball games and strategically positioning maniacally smiling actors in the camera’s view. And the risk paid off.Smileis the latest in a string of theatrical hits for Paramount in 2022, afterScream,Jackass Forever,Sonic the Hedgehog 2,The Lost City, andTop Gun: Maverick.
The post-summer season has been unusually barren this year, allowing films such asSmileandBarbarianto perform excellently, and also enablingBullet Trainto make more than $100 million at the domestic box office, mostly thanks to a complete lack of competition. But whileSmilehas proven that smartly-marketed original genre films can still succeed in a theatrical landscape, the box office performance of directorOlivia Wilde’sDon’t Worry Darlingsuggests that pre-release social media chatter doesn’t always translate into commercial success.Don’t Worry Darlingis trailingSmileboth domestically and internationally, despite a bigger budget, a splashy festival premiere, and a significantly more recognizable cast.
Directed byParker Finn,SmilestarsSosie Bacon,Kyle Gallner,Jessie T. Usher,Kal Penn,Caitlin Stasey, andRob Morgan. The film’s box office performance will likely be impacted this week, with the release of Universal’s trilogy-capperHalloween Ends, which is expected to claim the top spot. Check out the trailer forSmilebelow;
You can also read the film’s official synopsis here:
After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.
