October saw a couple huge record-setting hits, but November started out slower with only a few new movies, none of them opening in more than 1,500 theaters.
Because of this, Universal and Blumhouse‘s horror flick, Five Nights at Freddy’s, the #1-opening horror film of 2023, was able to remain in first place despite a jarring 76% crash from its $80 million opening weekend. It made $19.4 million in its second weekend to bring its domestic total to $113.6 million. It made another $35.6 million overseas this weekend to bring its global cume to $217.1 million with $103.5 million made internationally.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour remained in second place with $13.5 million, a tiny 12.5% drop-off in its fourth weekend to bring its domestic cume to $166 million. Taylor Swift‘s hit concert doc added another $11.6 million overseas, so it, too, as it has also crossed the $200 million mark with $231.1 million worldwide. Even though it was originally meant for a four-weekend run, AMC Distribution will be continuing its theatrical run for at least one more week, if not longer.
Martin Scorsese‘s latest true crime drama, Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone, also held its ground in third place with $7 million, down just 25%, bringing its domestic total to $52.3 million.
Following a number of festival premieres at Venice and the 61st New York Film Festival and a one-week platform release in New York and L.A., Sofia Coppola‘s biopic, Priscilla, starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi as Priscilla and Elvis Presley expanded nationwide into 1,359 theaters via A24. After making $225, 520 theaters in limited release, it added another $5.1 million over the weekend, averaging $3,741 per location. Reviews have generally been positive, so we’ll have to see how it holds up against all the bigger November releases. (None of the new movies reported to CinemaScore, since it’s not expected for releases into under 2,000 theaters.)
CODA star Eugenio Derbez starred in Christopher Zalla‘s Radical, which Lionsgate released into 419 theaters through its Pantelion Films banner. Picked up from Sundance earlier this year, the crowd-pleasing drama brought in an estimated $2.7 million, averaging $6,516 location, the best per-theater average in the top 10, as it landed in fifth place.
David Gordon Green‘s The Exorcist: Believer took sixth place with $2.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $63.2 million.
The Angel Studios doc, After Death, dropped to seventh place, down 60% to $2 million and $9 million total domestic.
Meg Ryan directed and starred in the rom-com What Happens Later, opposite David Duchovy, released by Bleecker Street into 1,492 theaters where it grossed roughly $1.6 million or $1,048 per theater.
The final new wide release was Neil Burger‘s drama The Marsh King’s Daughter, starring Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn, released by the revived Relativity Media into 1,055 theaters on Friday. It didn’t even make it into the top 10, stalling out at #13 with $849,120 or $804 per theater.
A couple more festival favorites continued to expand as Justine Triet‘s Anatomy of a Fall, starring Sandra Hüller, expanded into 440 theaters where it added another $600,000 to its domestic total of nearly $2 million. Winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, this is another movie that’s going to make a play for Oscar nominations, and we’ll have to see whether distributor NEON can keep it in theaters through year’s end.
Alexander Payne‘s The Holdovers, starring Paul Giamatti, also expanded into 64 theaters, via Focus Features, where it added another $600,000 ahead of its nationwide expansion on Friday. It has grossed $878,000 so far, and it’s considered to be a major awards player this season.
On Thursday night, Marvel Studios releases The Marvels, starring Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani, into over 4,000 theaters, while the biblical musical, Journey to Bethlehem, will get a slightly smaller release by Sony‘s Affirm Films banner.
| Rank | Entry | Distributor | Revenue | Theater Count | Total Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Five Nights at Freddy’s | Universal | $19,400,000 | 3,789 | $113,604,360 |
| 2 | TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR | AMC Theatres Distribution | $13,500,000 | 3,773 | $165,946,668 |
| 3 | Killers of the Flower Moon | Paramount Pictures | $7,000,000 | 3,786 | $52,332,522 |
| 4 | Priscilla | A24 | $5,084,573 | 1,359 | $5,310,093 |
| 5 | Radical | Pantelion Films | $2,730,326 | 419 | $2,730,326 |
| 6 | The Exorcist: Believer | Universal | $2,150,000 | 2,420 | $63,155,000 |
| 7 | After Death | Angel Studios | $2,000,256 | 2,730 | $9,022,025 |
| 8 | PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie | Paramount Pictures | $1,975,000 | 2,404 | $62,038,849 |
| 9 | What Happens Later | Bleecker Street | $1,564,026 | 1,492 | $1,564,026 |
| 10 | Freelance | Relativity | $1,248,685 | 2,057 | $4,203,981 |
