On the horror front, it was a relatively quiet weekend at the box office. For that matter, it’s going to be a pretty quiet November for the genre as Hollywood turns its attention towards the holiday season with big blockbuster offerings such as Wicked, Gladiator II, Moana 2 and this weekend’s Red One starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. What that means though is that the horror movies that are already in theaters will continue to benefit from a lack of new options in the marketplace. A24 is already seeing that with Heretic.
Directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, of Haunt and 65 fame, Heretic pulled in another $5.1 million in its second weekend. While it placed fourth on the charts well behind the weekend’s winner Red One ($34 million), it hardly matters as these things are all relative. The religious horror flick dropped 52% in its second weekend, which is pretty darn good, all things considered. It carries a C+ CinemaScore, which means word-of-mouth isn’t as strong as it was with general audiences when compared to A Quiet Place: Day One, for example. Even so, good critical buzz and praise for Hugh Grant’s performance kept this one strong.
The film has now earned $25.4 million worldwide and it’s now a little change in the couch cushions away from passing The Farewell to become one of A24’s top 20 earners of all time. Horror has been particularly consistent for the studio in recent years, with Hereditary and Talk to Me, which is getting a sequel, among A24’s top earners ever. Heretic isn’t likely to finish anywhere near the $80 or $90 million mark globally like those films did, but at this rate somewhere in the $50 million ballpark doesn’t seem unreasonable, provided a healthy international rollout.
Meanwhile, Venom: The Last Dance added $7.3 million in its fourth weekend, with Sony’s latest Marvel adaptation now sitting at $436 million worldwide, largely thanks to a strong international showing. For those who consider this even horror-adjacent fare, it’s a big winner despite rough reviews from critics. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever ($5.4 million) and The Wild Robot ($4.3 million), rounded out the top five in the three and five spots, respectively.
Getting back to horror, Parker Finn’s Smile 2 is remaining strong despite being in its fifth weekend, as Paramount’s sequel added $2.9 million domestically. That’s just a 42% drop from the prior weekend. The film has now earned $131.8 million worldwide. Smile 3 feels like a sure bet at this point as the sequel is going to be a huge hit relative to its $28 million budget. Regardless, Finn has made himself an asset to Paramount as a man with ideas that can put butts in seats.
Elsewhere in holdover news, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice added $225,000 in its 11th weekend. That number hardly matters. What does matter is that the sequel quietly crossed the $450 million mark, with a running total just north of $451 million worldwide. That means it has made 4.5 times its $100 budget. It ranks as the seventh-biggest Hollywood movie of 2024 worldwide behind Kung Fu Panda 4 ($547 million). So far as genre fare goes, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ($571 million) still holds the crown at number five globally for the year.
Elsewhere, MUBI’s The Substance made $136,850 on just 119 screens in its ninth weekend. The body horror sensation has amassed more than $51 million worldwide, becoming one of the biggest surprises in the genre space all year. The film’s run is winding down and is now available to watch at home on VOD, but it’s worth marveling at what this one was able to accomplish.
Looking ahead, Wicked and Gladiator II will dominate the headlines next weekend, with Moana 2 leading Thanksgiving week. We don’t have a new horror movie opening wide in theaters until Werewolves and Y2K both arrive on December 6. So, what’s out there now will have to tide us over until then.
You can check out the full list of the top ten movies at the box office for the weekend of November 15, 2024, below. For more, learn all about The Invisible Raptor, the low-budget dinosaur movie critics love.
- Red One – $34 million (first weekend)
- Venom: The Last Dance – $7.3 million (third weekend)
- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – $5.4 million (second weekend)
- Heretic – $5.1 million (second weekend)
- The Wild Robot – $4.3 million (eighth weekend)
- Smile 2 – $2.9 million (weekend five)
- Conclave $2.8 million (weekend four)
- Hello, Love, Again – $2.32 million (weekend one)
- A Real Pain – $2.3 million (weekend three)
- Anora – $1.8 million (weekend five)
