'Venom' & 'Star is Born' Reign Atop Box Office for Second Weekend in a Row

It wasn't quite as close as we thought it might be at the top of the box office, but last weekend's top two films definitely didn't disappoint. Sony's Venom held on even better than expected, delivering a second weekend at #1 while Warner Bros.'s A Star is Born continued to shine. As for the weekend's three new wide releases, Universal's First Man led the way, narrowly edging out Sony's Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween for third place on the weekend chart while Fox's Bad Times at the El Royale fell outside the top five.

With an estimated $35.7 million, Sony's Venom dropped just 55% in its second weekend as the film's domestic cume now totals $143 million after just ten days in release. Heading into the weekend a drop of 60%+ seemed most likely considering historical precedence, but the film continues to outperform expectations, holding on similarly to Logan, which dipped just 56.9% in its second weekend.

Internationally, Venom remained the #1 film at the global box office delivering an estimated $69.7 million from 54 overseas markets for an international cume now totaling $235.3 million. New markets this weekend include France where the film launched with an estimated $6.7 million. The film's top market is South Korea with $25.4 million and it won't be adding any additional territories until its November 2 release in Japan while a release in China is still yet to be determined.

In the runner-up position for a second weekend in a row is WB's A Star is Born, which dropped just 35% in its sophomore frame for an estimated $28 million. The film's domestic cume is now just shy of $95 million after ten days in release.

Internationally, A Star is Born dipped just -14% compared to last weekend, bringing in an estimated $20.2 million from 65 markets for an overseas cume that now tops $41 million. Among the weekend's new markets, Italy led the way with a $2 million debut followed by openings in Brazil ($1.4m); Mexico ($1.3m); South Korea ($1.2m); and Taiwan ($1.1m). The film's top market is the UK with $12.3 million and next weekend sees A Star is Born open in Australia after which Japan will be the only market where the film is still to release as it doesn't debut there until December 21.

In third we come to the weekend's first new wide release in Universal's First Man, which managed to deliver on studio expectations, but fell short of Mojo's pre-weekend forecast. The film delivered a $16.5 million, three-day which is just over one million more than the $15.3 million opening for Brdge of Spies back in October 2015. That film went on to deliver a 4.7x multiplier with over $72 million domestically and Universal is hoping for a similar performance from First Man, which received a rather light "B+" CinemaScore from opening day audiences (Bridge of Spies received an "A") while playing well with critics to the tune of an 88% rating on RottenTomatoes. The film played to an audience that was 56% male, playing to an audience of which 52% were 35 years of age or older.

Internationally, First Man launched in 22 markets and brought in an estimated $8.6 million. bringing the worldwide total to $25.1 million. Leading the way was a $3.1 million debut in the UK followed by Australia ($1.67m), Spain ($1m) and Russia ($573k). Upcoming markets include France, Brazil and South Korea next weekend followed by Italy (Oct 31), Germany (Nov 8), Mexico (Nov 9) and Japan (Feb 8).

Right behind First Man in fourth place is Sony's Goosebumps 2 with an estimated $16.2 million, which is right on par with Mojo's pre-weekend expectations. This was a tough film to forecast given it is a sequel in which the star from the first film — Jack Black playing author R.L. Stine — has a limited role and wasn't even featured in the marketing until just a couple weeks before release due to him playing what appeared on the outside as a very similar role in Universal's The House with a Clock in Its Walls, which is still in theaters and even placed eighth for the weekend with an estimated $3.9 million this weekend. That being said, a debut in the mid-teens for the $35 million production isn't too bad, though it might need a little help if audiences are hoping to see a third film round out the would-be trilogy.

Overall, the film played to an audience that was split 50-50 male to female with 72% of the audience coming in under the age of 25. Goosebumps 2 received a "B" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.

Internationally, Goosebumps 2 debuted in 16 markets this weekend with an estimated $3.7 million with Mexico leading the way with $1.7 million. The film will open in Italy and the UK next weekend followed by releases in France (Oct 24), Australia (Oct 25), Germany (Oct 25), Spain (Oct 26), Russia (Nov 1) and Spain (Nov 8).

Rounding out the top five is WB's animated feature Smallfoot with an estimated $9.3 million for a domestic cume that now stands at $57.8 million. Internationally the film grossed an estimated $14.5 million from 57 overseas markets for an international cume that now stands at now $52.6 million.

Outside the top five it isn't until seventh that we find Fox's release of Bad Times at the El Royale, which debuted with an estimated $7.2 million. The film received a disappointing "B-" CinemaScore from opening day audiences while playing to a crowd that was 53% male and 73% of the overall audience was 25 years of age or older.

Internationally, Bad Times debuted in 36 markets with an estimated $4.05 million. Russia led the way with a $913k debut followed by Australia ($884k); UK ($620k); and Germany ($315k). The film will open in Sweden, Denmark and Norway next weekend.

Finishing ninth is Fox's The Hate U Give with an estimated $1.765 million from just 248 locations ($7,117 PTA). This is the film's second weekend in limited release in advance of its nationwide expansion next weekend into ~2,300 theaters.

Additionally, rounding out the top twelve is GVN's moderate release of Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer into 673 locations, debuting with an estimated $1.2 million.

In limited release Amazon Studios's Beautiful Boy opened in four locations in NY and LA with an estimated $221,437 for a chart-topping $55,359 per theater average. Additionally, Excel's Jane and Emma opened with $122,000 in 21 theaters ($5,810 PTA); Sony Classics's The Happy Prince brought in an estimated $40,267 from eight theaters ($5,033 PTA) after opening on Wednesday; Freestyle's Bigger debuted with $32,500 from 61 locations ($533 PTA); Roadside's release of The Oath in ten locations brought in an estimated $29,237 ($2,923 PTA); and Abramorama's Liyana opened with $5,030 in just one theater.

Also of note is Crazy Rich Asians, which brought in an estimated $1.07 million this weekend, has now topped $171 million becoming only the sixth romantic comedy to ever reach that milestone.

Overall, the weekend's top twelve films combined for an estimated $130.5 million, which ranks as the sixth largest October weekend of all-time on the heels of last weekend's record breaking performance. For the year, 2018 is currently pacing 10.2% ahead of last year and 5.1% ahead of 2016's record-breaking performance.

Next weekend sees the release of Universal's Halloween, which is tracking for a big number, debuting in ~3,700 theaters. Additionally, Fox will expand the release of The Hate U Give into 2,300 theaters and Fox Searchlight will push The Old Man & the Gun into over 600 locations.