North America's box office has hit rock bottom, with October takings plummeting to their lowest level since 1997. The dismal performance marks the worst Halloween weekend of the year, as cinema earnings for the three-day period fell short of expectations.
A lackluster slate of big-name releases is being cited as a major factor in the poor results. Notably, Tron: Ares, an effects-heavy blockbuster, grossed only $67 million domestically, despite its reported budget of $180 million. Other highly anticipated films, including Dwayne Johnson's The Smashing Machine and Julia Roberts' #MeToo drama After the Hunt, also underperformed at the box office.
The traditional Halloween boost is usually a welcome lift for cinema earnings, but this year's festivities were marred by the date falling on a Friday, when many intended audiences would be busy with other activities. As a result, October's weekend of October 31 to November 2 saw the lowest box office take of the year, with just $48.3 million in receipts.
The horror genre, typically a reliable draw for Halloween enthusiasts, was also lacking this time around. The leading horror release of the season, Black Phone 2, managed only $8 million over the weekend, while Shelby Oaks, touted as a buzzy new thriller, took in a paltry $770,000 from its wide theatrical release.
Baseball's World Series climax may have further contributed to the disappointing box office performance, with many fans choosing to stay home and watch the game instead of heading to the cinema. When asked about the poor results, Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock summed it up succinctly: "The major releases this month failed to deliver. Simple as that."
However, not all was bad news – Taylor Swift's The Official Release Party of a Showgirl proved to be a silver lining, with the film raking in $34 million over its two-weekend run in theaters.
A lackluster slate of big-name releases is being cited as a major factor in the poor results. Notably, Tron: Ares, an effects-heavy blockbuster, grossed only $67 million domestically, despite its reported budget of $180 million. Other highly anticipated films, including Dwayne Johnson's The Smashing Machine and Julia Roberts' #MeToo drama After the Hunt, also underperformed at the box office.
The traditional Halloween boost is usually a welcome lift for cinema earnings, but this year's festivities were marred by the date falling on a Friday, when many intended audiences would be busy with other activities. As a result, October's weekend of October 31 to November 2 saw the lowest box office take of the year, with just $48.3 million in receipts.
The horror genre, typically a reliable draw for Halloween enthusiasts, was also lacking this time around. The leading horror release of the season, Black Phone 2, managed only $8 million over the weekend, while Shelby Oaks, touted as a buzzy new thriller, took in a paltry $770,000 from its wide theatrical release.
Baseball's World Series climax may have further contributed to the disappointing box office performance, with many fans choosing to stay home and watch the game instead of heading to the cinema. When asked about the poor results, Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock summed it up succinctly: "The major releases this month failed to deliver. Simple as that."
However, not all was bad news – Taylor Swift's The Official Release Party of a Showgirl proved to be a silver lining, with the film raking in $34 million over its two-weekend run in theaters.
I mean, come on, a blockbuster like Tron: Ares that costs 180 million bucks and only grosses 67 million domestically? That's just crazy talk! 
The special effects must've been so over-the-top that nobody wanted to shell out the big bucks to see 'em. And don't even get me started on Dwayne Johnson's film, I mean, he's not exactly a new face in Hollywood, what did we expect? 
The horror genre was also a letdown, Black Phone 2? Only 8 million over the weekend? That's like, what, 5 moviegoers or something? 
The World Series must've taken up everyone's attention though... that's just cold logic right there, folks! 
And can we talk about the horror genre being all, like, meh this Halloween season? I mean, Black Phone 2 and Shelby Oaks just didn't bring in the numbers we were expecting. 
but still managed to flop 
What went wrong? 
and yeah, tron: ares was always gonna bomb, all those fancy effects just gonna scare people off. and don't even get me started on dwayne johnson's movie, smashing machine sounds like a total snooze fest 
. but seriously, who thought it was a good idea to release movies in october? everyone's too busy watching baseball with their friends 
. at least taylor swift's showgirl film did alright for itself, guess that's one thing studios got right 
! I mean, what happened? Didn't expect big-name releases to flop like that 
. But hey, at least Taylor Swift's movie did decently... I guess that's something to look forward to 
. Just my two cents 
I'm getting so sick of these box office numbers. First off, Tron: Ares is literally a budget blockbuster that still manages to lose money? Like what even is the point of releasing a film with such astronomical production costs if it's just gonna tank like this? 
I mean, 180 million budget and only 67 mil? That's just crazy talk! 
But for real though, maybe we should be worried about the future of cinema or something... or maybe not 
. Anyway, Taylor Swift's movie did pretty well, so that's a silver lining, right? 
. I mean, you'd think that Tron: Ares would be all about the special effects, but it only made 67 million bucks domestically? That's just crazy 
️. I get it, some people wanted to catch the game instead of the movie, but still, you'd think horror fans would have flocked to see Black Phone 2 
anyway, at least Taylor Swift's showgirl movie did alright 
and don't even get me started on the horror genre this halloween season... only 8 mil for black phone 2? 