Sam and Colby: The Legends Of The Paranormal from popular ghost-hunting YouTubers Sam Golbach and Colby Brock scared up a no. 6 spot at the domestic box office. Also this weekend, Mubi continued a series of firsts for the indie distributor with The Substance. And Columbia Pictures’ Saturday Night saw $280k at just 21 locations.
Sam and Colby grossed circa $1.76 million with a cume of $2.15 million on 295 Cinemark theaters, according to Comscore. The paranormal investigators and best friends have hunted ghosts at the world’s most iconic haunted locations. Here they set out with their friend Nate to investigate a mysterious desert ranch famous for ghosts, UFO sightings, and terrifying monsters lurking in the dark. It’s rare for social media stars to bridge the theatrical divide and this is a big one.
Meanwhile, in its third weekend, Mubi’s release of Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance starring Demi Moore is holding well with an estimated gross pushing $1.35 million on 686 screens and a cume of $ 9.73 million. It’s Mubi’s widest release, its highest grossing and its first to break into the top 10. Park Chan-wook’s 2022 Cannes favorite Decision To Leave made it to no. 14.
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“The Substance continues to hold in incredibly well with less than a 30 percent drop in gross and on fewer screens,” said U.S. head of distribution Mark Boxer. “The film played to multiple sold out shows across the country (many outside of NY and LA) as we continue to see the buzz grow each week. [It has] has been in the top ten since opening as the grosses rose in many cinemas highlighting the demand and fantastic word of mouth as we go into upcoming fourth weekend in release.”
New indies: Sony Pictures Classics opened Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun in 508 theaters to $334k. The R-rated drama stars Saoirse Ronan as a troubled young woman who leaves London for the wild beauty of her native Orkney Island in Scotland. Adapted from the bestselling memoir by Amy Liptrot.
Animated Look Back from GKIDS, a big hit in Japan, grossed $72.7k at two theaters (LA’s AMC Burbank 16 and Regal Union Square in NYC). Based on the popular manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto. In the U.S. and Canada, the 55-minute feature film is accompanied by 20 minutes of behind-the-scenes interviews with the director and cast. Debuts nationwide with event screenings today and Monday before continuing its rollout through October. (Estimates above only include the for the two cinemas that opened Friday.)
Leap Of Faith from Picturehouse, from director Nicholas Ma and producer Morgan Neville, is at $31.5k in 7 theaters this weekend. The documentary follows church groups and pastors from different faiths as they try to heal the divide in their congregations and communities in amid a highly charged political moment. It opened in Grand Rapids, where the film was made. Add the Angelika in NYC next weekend.
Documentary Separated from Submarime Deluxe, directed by Errol Morris and based on the book by Jacob Soboroff, debuted at $8.7k on one screen. The film delves into one of the darkest chapters in recent American history, the Trump administration’s family separations. Morris merges bombshell interviews with government officials and artful narrative vignettes tracing one migrant family’s plight, and showing that the cruelty at the heart of the policy was its very purpose as over 1,300 children are without confirmed reunifications years later.
DAAAAAALÍ! from Music Box Pictures, a biopic of the iconic surrealist artist, grossed $3.2k on 7 screens.
Fathom’s special event MET Opera: Les Contes d’Hoffmann opened in 703 locations to a debut of $586.3k, according to Comscore.
Expansions and holdovers: Columbia Pictures’ Saturday Night added 16 locations this weekend for a total of 21 with an estimated $280k weekend and a $638k cume. The film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Gil Kenan & Reitman is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live in 1975.
Lee from Roadside Attractions, produce by and starring Kate Winslet, is looking at an estimated 3-day gross of $285k on 465 screens, for a cume of $1.4 million in week 2.
Amazon MGM’s My Old Ass by Megan Park saw $908.8k over the three days for a cume of $4.5 million in week 4 for the coming-of-age film starring Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza.
A24’s A Different Man by Aaron Schimberg, starring Sebastian Stan, Adam Pearson and Renate Reinsve, grossed $186.4k in week 3 on 265 screens for a cume of $373.3k.
Indie juggernaut Am I Racist? by conservative podcaster Matt Walsh, rom SDG Releasing, had a $387k weekend for a cume of $11.82 million in week 4 on 652 screens.
Right-wing pundit and conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza’s Vindicating Trump doc, also from SDG Releasing, had $153k in week 2 on 429 screens for a cume of $1.23 million.