'Smile' beats 'Lyle' and 'Amsterdam,' tops North America box office
“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile,” Sony’s new computer-animated musical comedy, placed second at $11.5 million on a slow weekend.
Paramount executives kept the "Smile" on their faces on Sunday, as the deceptively named horror film topped North America's box office for a second weekend, scaring up an estimated $17.6 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said.
Sosie Bacon, daughter of actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, stars as a therapist whose grasp on reality starts to slip after she witnesses a gruesome event involving a patient.
"Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile," Sony's new live-action/computer animated musical comedy, placed second at $11.5 million on a slow weekend.
Analyst David A Gross called that a "weak opening" despite good reviews.
With a budget of just $50 million, he added, "the film was not designed to be in the league of the big Disney/Pixar/Illumination family juggernauts." It stars Javier Bardem, Shawn Mendes and Constance Wu.
Another new arrival, 20th Century's comedy thriller "Amsterdam," took in just $6.5 million for third place, suffering from poor reviews despite what Gross called "an impressive collection of talent in front of and behind the camera."
Why is everyone smiling? Get #SmileMovie tickets now and see why the #1 MOVIE in America is "scary as hell"! NOW PLAYING only in theatres.
— Smile Movie (@SmileMovie) October 5, 2022
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Directed by David O. Russell ("Silver Linings Playbook," "American Hustle"), its all-star cast includes Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Chris Rock, Taylor Swift, Matthias Schoenaerts, Rami Malek and Robert De Niro in a tale about the mysterious murder of a US senator.
In fourth, down one spot from last weekend, was Sony's history-inspired "The Woman King," at $5.3 million.
Viola Davis stars as the leader of an all-female army of African warriors.
And in fifth was "Don't Worry Darling" from Warner Bros., at $3.5 million. The psychological horror film slipped from second last weekend.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
"Avatar" (Re-release, $2.6 million)
"Barbarian" ($2.2 million)
"Bros" ($2.2 million)
"Terrifier 2" ($925,000)
"Ponniyin Selvan: Part One" ($920,000)