Key Takeaways
Total 3-Day Weekend Gross:
$82,409,325 | +7.7% Last Week / -6.8% Weekend 40, 2024
Taylor Swift’s “non-movie,” The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, managed to achieve big movie business in a slightly truncated 3-day release, earning $33M and marking another big #1 win for a specialized event this year. Meanwhile, Dwayne Johnson’s dramatic turn in The Smashing Machine was tapped out after a mixed audience response. Overall, we had another week-over-week win, but the box office continues to be relatively flat compared to 2024.
- Top Title: Taylor Swift | The Official Release Party of a Showgirl (AMC) | $33M / 3,702 Screens / $8,914 PSA | Week 1
- Top Opener: Taylor Swift | The Official Release Party of a Showgirl (AMC) | $33M / 3,702 Screens / $8,914 PSA | Week 1
- Best PSA: Orwell: 2+2 = 5 (Neon) | $26.5K / 1 Screen / $26,561 PSA | Week 1
1. Taylor Swift | The Official Release Party of a Showgirl
AMC Distribution | NEW
$33M 3-Day Opening Weekend | $46M Global Total
Superstar Taylor Swift flexed her power in the industry yet again with The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, a theatrical backstage pass made for her fans. AMC booked the film with exhibitors swiftly after a final hour Sept 19 announcement, which has resulted in a #1 opening with $33M from 3,702 screens for a $8,914 Per Screen Average. This is an excellent showing for the three-day exclusive window, especially considering there were no Thursday previews and showings did not begin on Friday until 3 p.m.
Although general tickets had a locked-in price of $12, those prices went higher for PLFs, which accounted for 28% of ticket sales. RT audience score was 95%, while CinemaScore earned an “A+” rating. Here’s how the 3-Day looked…
- Friday – $15.8M
- Saturday – $10M
- Sunday – $7.2M
AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron released the following statement: “On behalf of AMC Theatres and the entire theatrical exhibition industry, I extend our sincerest appreciation to the iconic Taylor Swift for bringing her brilliance and magic to movie theatres this weekend. Her vision to add a cinematic element to her incredible album debut was nothing less than a triumph. It was simply a wonderful gift to her passionate and enthusiastic fans, who got to see, on our giant screens, behind-the-scenes footage and insight into The Life of a Showgirl. AMC Theatres is so proud to have collaborated with Taylor. What an honor and privilege and joy it has been for us to once again play a role in her incomparable success.”
Overseas, the movie performed better than expected with a $13 million international haul from 3,588 screens across 54 territories. This brings the overall weekend/lifetime global box office for The Official Release Party of a Showgirl to $46 million.
3. The Smashing Machine
A24 | NEW
$6M 3-Day Opening Weekend
Dwayne Johnson’s dramatic turn as former MMA fighter Mark Kerr in A24’s The Smashing Machine only managed $6M for the 3-Day weekend on 3,345 screens for a $1,794 PSA. Audience reactions have been mixed as well, with a “B-” CinemaScore, while RT was 74% critical and 78% audience score. PostTrak was 3 out 5 stars, with a low 48% definite recommend.
This is a record-low wide debut for Johnson as a leading man, whose next-lowest is 2010’s misfire Faster ($8.5M), while another similar title, 2019’s Fighting With My Family (for which he had a supporting role as himself) went wide with $7.8M. The new film’s lack of traction with audiences is surprising considering how much work Johnson put into promoting it as well as how invested he is in his creative partnership with director/indie darling Benny Safdie. Johnson is currently losing a large amount of weight for Safdie’s next picture, Lizard Music.
Here’s how the 3-Day looked, including $850K in Thursday previews…
- Friday – $2.7M
- Saturday – $1.8M
- Sunday – $1.4M
Despite the presence of Emily Blunt the audience was majority male at 70% vs 30% female, with a bulk of the ticket buyers (64%) in the 18-34 bracket. Here’s how demographics fared…
- 53% Caucasian
- 27% Latino and Hispanic
- 8% Black
- 8% Asian American
It’s possible that Taylor Swift’s surprise appearance in the ecosystem sucked the air out of the room for Johnson, although an alternate theory is that The Smashing Machine wasn’t a drastic enough change for the actor. We have been seeing Johnson fighting in a ring for three decades, so having him in an MMA milieu held little novelty beyond the R-rating. It would be as if Jim Carrey had tried to launch his bid as a serious actor with a grounded, realistic pet detective film. Still, Johnson remains in the conversation for awards season, and is not to be counted out.
Other Notable Performances
Warner Bros.’ One Battle After Another managed to hold strong enough to nab the #2 spot with $11.1M for a -49% drop from last frame. PSA was $3,061, bringing the domestic total to $42.8M. Overseas the movie held stronger with only a -17% drop from Frame 1 with $21.7M. Top market cumes are the UK ($8.1M), France ($6.4), and Germany ($4.6M), taking the movie over the $100M line globally with $101.7M, thus replacing There Will Be Blood ($40.2M domestic/$77.18M WW) as PTA’s highest grosser across the board.
Disney/20th Century re-released 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water into 2,140 screens as a one-week refresher course leading up the Christmas debut of Avatar: Fire & Ash. It made $3.19M for a $1,493 PSA, enough to put it at #7, taking the domestic total to $687.6M. IMAX global take was $2.2M, while North America’s piece of that was $723K (22.6% of domestic weekend).
IFC’s release of horror film Good Boy, a haunted house story from a dog’s POV, earned $2.25M from 1,650 screens for a $1,365 PSA. The movie has earned rave reviews (93% on RT) along with a solid-for-the-genre “B” CinemaScore, and managed to squeak into the Top 10 at #9.
Focus Features’ release of the drama Anemone did not fare as well as the dog movie, bringing in an estimated $700K from 865 screens for an $809 PSA. The return of acting legend Daniel Day-Lewis has been torched by critics (57% RT) and fared little better with ticket buyers (60% audience score), more or less sinking any award season momentum.
Next Weekend
The fall season kicks into high gear next frame as Disney unveils Tron: Ares, the third film in the high-tech franchise which began in 1982. Oscar-winner Jared Leto leads as the title character from the computer world who ventures into the real world. Channing Tatum stars as a criminal veteran who evades police by hiding in a Toys R Us in Roofman, which earned solid reviews out of TIFF. The Julia Roberts-led sexual assault drama After the Hunt gets a limited opening before expanding next week, although reactions out of festivals have been mixed for the Luca Guadagnino film. The 1985 drama Kiss of the Spider Woman gets a musical remake with Jennifer Lopez in the lead, helmed by Bill Condon of Dreamgirls and Beauty and the Beast fame.
Sunday Studio Estimates | Weekend 40 – 2025
Total 3-Day Domestic Gross: $82,409,325 | (-6.8% vs 2024)
| Title | Weekend Estimate | % Change | Locations | Location Change | PSA | Domestic Total | Week | Distributor |
| Taylor Swift | The Official Release Party of a … | $33,000,000 | 3,702 | $8,914 | 33,000,000 | 1 | AMC Theatres… | ||
| One Battle After Another | $11,125,000 | -49% | 3,634 | n/c | $3,061 | 42,751,000 | 2 | Warner Bros. |
| The Smashing Machine | $6,000,170 | 3,345 | $1,794 | 6,000,170 | 1 | A24 | ||
| Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie | $5,200,000 | -62% | 3,507 | 7 | $1,483 | 21,609,000 | 2 | Universal |
| The Conjuring: Last Rites | $4,050,000 | -40% | 2,753 | -330 | $1,471 | 167,805,000 | 5 | Warner Bros. |
| Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Infi… | $3,500,000 | -51% | 2,547 | -437 | $1,374 | 124,634,000 | 4 | Sony Pictures |
| Avatar: The Way of Water | $3,194,000 | 2,140 | $1,493 | 687,619,767 | 147 | 20th Century… | ||
| The Strangers: Chapter 2 | $2,800,000 | -52% | 2,690 | n/c | $1,041 | 10,692,000 | 2 | Lionsgate |
| Good Boy | $2,253,000 | 1,650 | $1,365 | 2,253,000 | 1 | IFC Entertai… | ||
| The Long Walk | $1,700,000 | -49% | 1,930 | -367 | $881 | 31,924,000 | 4 | Lionsgate |
| Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale | $1,350,000 | -59% | 2,050 | -779 | $659 | 42,248,000 | 4 | Focus Features |
| Him | $1,250,000 | -65% | 2,137 | -1,031 | $585 | 23,417,000 | 3 | Universal |
| Bone Lake | $828,560 | 1,059 | $782 | 828,560 | 1 | Bleecker Street | ||
| Casper | $750,000 | 1,100 | $682 | 101,587,000 | 1,585 | Universal | ||
| Perfect Blue | $711,695 | 471 | $1,511 | 1,475,213 | 1,364 | GKIDS | ||
| Anemone | $700,000 | 865 | $809 | 700,000 | 1 | Focus Features | ||
| Eleanor the Great | $271,000 | -70% | 480 | -412 | $565 | 1,671,000 | 2 | Sony Picture… |
| The Bad Guys 2 | $155,000 | -56% | 293 | -195 | $529 | 81,157,000 | 10 | Universal |
| Dead of Winter | $139,000 | -87% | 402 | -203 | $346 | 1,495,900 | 2 | Vertical Ent… |
| Weapons | $135,000 | -71% | 187 | -325 | $722 | 150,989,000 | 9 | Warner Bros. |
| The Senior | $134,887 | -82% | 485 | -1,365 | $278 | 5,083,446 | 3 | Angel Studios |
| A Big Bold Beautiful Journey | $120,000 | -89% | 609 | -2,721 | $197 | 6,587,000 | 3 | Sony Pictures |
| Freakier Friday | $92,000 | -79% | 160 | -725 | $575 | 94,013,393 | 9 | Walt Disney |
| The Fantastic Four: First Steps | $75,000 | -71% | 130 | -170 | $577 | 274,145,487 | 11 | Walt Disney |
| The Roses | $34,000 | -46% | 125 | -45 | $272 | 15,253,088 | 6 | Searchlight … |
| Orwell: 2+2 = 5 | $26,561 | 1 | $26,561 | 26,561 | 1 | Neon | ||
| Hamilton | $17,000 | -80% | 45 | -130 | $378 | 16,938,892 | 5 | Walt Disney |
| Toy Story | $17,000 | -91% | 45 | -305 | $378 | 199,233,039 | 1,559 | Walt Disney |
| Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse | $4,322 | -90% | 3 | -5 | $1,441 | 51,932 | 77 | Hemdale |
| Peacock | 3,242 | 6 | $540 | 11,383 | 3 | Oscilloscope… | ||
| CatVideoFest 2025 | $2,842 | -52% | 2 | -3 | $1,421 | 1,013,659 | 10 | Oscilloscope… |
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