‘Smile 2’ Grinning to No. 1 at Box Office; ‘Anora’ Glitters in Limited Release

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Ray Nicholson in a scene from "Smile 2." (Paramount Pictures via AP)
This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Ray Nicholson in a scene from "Smile 2." (Paramount Pictures via AP)
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‘Smile 2’ Grinning to No. 1 at Box Office; ‘Anora’ Glitters in Limited Release

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Ray Nicholson in a scene from "Smile 2." (Paramount Pictures via AP)
This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Ray Nicholson in a scene from "Smile 2." (Paramount Pictures via AP)

Horror movies topped the domestic box office charts and an Oscar contender got off to a sparkling start this weekend. “Smile 2,” in its first weekend, and “Terrifier 3” in its second proved to be the big draws for general movie audiences in North America, while the Palme d’Or winner “Anora” got the best per-theater average in over a year.

“Smile 2" was the big newcomer, taking first place with a better than expected $23 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Parker Finn returned to write and direct the sequel to the supernatural horror “Smile,” his debut. Originally intended for streaming, Paramount pivoted and sent the movie to theaters in the fall of 2022. “Smile” became a sleeper hit at the box office, earning some $217 million against a $17 million budget.

The sequel, starring Naomi Scott as a pop star, was rewarded with a bit of a bigger budget, and a theatrical commitment from the start. Playing on 3,619 screens, it opened slightly higher than the first's $22 million, The Associated Press reported.

Second place went to Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” in its fourth weekend with $10.1 million, bumping it past $100 million in North America. Family films often have long lives in theaters, particularly ones as well reviewed as “The Wild Robot,” and some have speculated that it got a bump this weekend from teenagers buying tickets for the PG-rated family film and then sneaking into “Terrifier 3,” which is not rated, instead.

Either way, Damien Leone’s demon clown movie, which cost only $2 million to produce, is doing more than fine with legitimate ticket buyers. It added an estimated $9.3 million, bringing its total to $36.2 million.

“Rumors like that are PR gold,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “There’s no better indication that that movie is red hot right now."
The No. 1 openings for “Smile 2” this weekend and “Terrifier 3” last were only possible because of the failure of “Joker: Folie à Deux.” That big budget sequel continued its death march in its third weekend, falling another 69% to earn $2.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $56.4 million.
Warner Bros. has a better performer in “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which placed fourth in its seventh weekend with an additional $5 million, bringing its domestic total to $284 million. Star Michael Keaton also had another film open this weekend — the father-daughter dramedy “Goodrich” which stumbled in with only $600,000 from 1,055 locations.
Rounding out the top five was the romantic tearjerker “We Live In Time,” which expanded to 985 theaters following last weekend's debut on 5 screens. The A24 release starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh earned $4.2 million over the weekend. Audiences were 85% under 35 and 70% female, according to exit polls. The well-reviewed film will expand further next weekend.
One of the other brightest spots of the weekend was Sean Baker’s “Anora,” which opened in six locations in New York and Los Angeles and earned an estimated $630,000. That’s a $105,000 per theater average, the best since “Asteroid City’s” $142,000 average last summer. The Neon release, a sensation at Cannes and a likely Oscar contender, stars Mikey Madison as a New York sex worker who falls for the son of a Russian oligarch.
After several weeks of would-be awards contenders and buzzy films (“Piece by Piece,” “Saturday Night,” “The Apprentice” among them) fizzling with audiences, “Anora’s” success is a promising sign that moviegoers will still seek out arty, adult fare.
"For moviegoers, there’s a lot on offer with something in every type of movie in every category," Dergarabedian said. “I think we’re going to have a really strong home stretch with a great combination of movies big and small.”
The Walt Disney Co. also made a splash with several re-releases. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” got a place in the top 10 with $1.1 million, while “Hocus Pocus” made $841,000.
Next weekend will have a major studio comic book movie with “Venom: The Last Dance” as well as an awards movie in the papal thriller “Conclave" vying for audience attention.



Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Has a Poignant Vibe This Year

FILE - Thom Gimbel, from left, Michael Bluestein, Mick Jones, Kelly Hansen, Jeff Pilson and Bruce Watson of Foreigner pose for a portrait during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Jan. 20, 2017. (The Associated Press)
FILE - Thom Gimbel, from left, Michael Bluestein, Mick Jones, Kelly Hansen, Jeff Pilson and Bruce Watson of Foreigner pose for a portrait during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Jan. 20, 2017. (The Associated Press)
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Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Has a Poignant Vibe This Year

FILE - Thom Gimbel, from left, Michael Bluestein, Mick Jones, Kelly Hansen, Jeff Pilson and Bruce Watson of Foreigner pose for a portrait during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Jan. 20, 2017. (The Associated Press)
FILE - Thom Gimbel, from left, Michael Bluestein, Mick Jones, Kelly Hansen, Jeff Pilson and Bruce Watson of Foreigner pose for a portrait during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Jan. 20, 2017. (The Associated Press)

The Rock & Roll Hall Fame induction ceremony on Saturday night promises to be starry, jamming — and bittersweet. So many of the honorees this time have been lost.
Of the seven original members of Kool & the Gang, there is only one, Robert “Kool” Bell. There will be no living members of the MC5, which suffered the recent deaths of its two last original members, drummer Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson and guitarist and singer Wayne Kramer. Foreigner's original bassist Ed Gagliardi and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald have died and guitarist Mick Jones has been sidelined by Parkinson’s disease. A Tribe Called Quest has lost Phife Dawg.
“I wish George was here and the rest of the other gentlemen — the other original members — because they well deserve this recognition,” said Hahn Brown, widow of Kool & the Gang drummer and songwriter George Brown, who died in 2023.
In many ways, the class of 2024 — which also includes Peter Frampton, Cher,Mary J. Blige, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Matthews Band, the late Jimmy Buffett, Dionne Warwick and the late Alexis Korner, the late John Mayall and the late Big Mama Thornton — is a catch-up class, reflecting turnover in the hall's leadership.
“There’s been a change over from some of the old guard in years past to you see artists like Rush and Kiss and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Randy Rhodes, the MC5 and Judas Priest getting in. Whereas before that might not have been the case,” says Tom Morello, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist for bands like Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave.
Morello recalls bringing up the issue of membership with Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen’s manager and a former Rolling Stone critic, who was then chairman of the nominating committee.
He told him: “Myself and my friends, we don’t think so much about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame because none of our favorite bands are in it.”
Now it will have a band Morello has long championed, the MC5, who paved the way for the Stooges, the Ramones, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down.
Saturday's induction ceremony will be held at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. It will stream live on Disney+. A special featuring performance highlights and standout moments will air on ABC on Jan. 1.
Cher — the only artist to have a No. 1 song in each of the past six decades — and Blige, with eight multi-platinum albums and nine Grammy Awards, will help boost the number of women in the Hall, which critics say is too low.
Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction. Nominees were voted on by more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry professionals.
There had been a starry push to get Foreigner — with the hits “Urgent” and “Hot Blooded” — into the Hall, with Mark Ronson, Jack Black, Slash, Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney all publicly backing the move. Ronson’s stepfather is Mick Jones, Foreigner’s founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist.
Warwick will arrive at the ceremony only a few days after attending a memorial to her longtime friend and collaborator, Cissy Houston, in Newark, New Jersey. Jennifer Hudson and Teyana Taylor will help induct her.
Other members of rock, pop and hip-hop royalty will be on hand to help usher the class in, including Busta Rhymes, Dr. Dre, Demi Lovato, Dua Lipa, Ella Mai, James Taylor, Jelly Roll, Julia Roberts, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Lucky Daye, Mac McAnally, Method Man, Roger Daltrey, Sammy Hagar, Slash and The Roots.