“The Strangers: Chapter 2″ Opens too $5.9 Million Amidst Poor Reviews
“The Strangers: Chapter 2” debuted wiht $5.9 million from 2,650 theaters this weekend, falling considerably short of the $12 million launch of 2024’s “The Strangers: Chapter 1.” Despite the lower opening, the slasher sequel’s $8.5 million production budget offers Lionsgate some financial cushion.
The film, directed by Renny Harlin and continuing the story of the masked killers from the first installment, follows their pursuit of a survivor (madelaine Petsch). While horror films often aren’t reliant on strong critical reception, ”The Strangers: Chapter 2″ was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews, earning a “C-” grade on CinemaScore and a dismal 18% score on rotten Tomatoes. According to box office analyst Gross, “Reviews are poor; that’s not a big deal for horror,” but he added that “the audience score is also weak, even for the genre.”
Elsewhere at the box office, Sony’s anime film “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” secured third place with $7.1 million from 2,984 venues, bringing its domestic total to $118.1 million-making it the highest-grossing anime film in North American history. Globally, “Demon Slayer” has earned $605.4 million. “The Conjuring: Last Rites” followed closely in fourth with $6.9 million, achieving a domestic total of $161.5 million and a global haul of $435 million, marking the biggest installment in the “Conjuring” franchise.
Two films from last weekend experienced significant drops in ticket sales.Worldwide’s “Him,” a sports thriller produced by Jordan Peele, earned $3.8 million-a 71% decline-for a domestic total of $20.9 million. Sony’s romantic drama “A Big Bold Beatiful Journey,” starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, plummeted to tenth place with $1.2 million, a 63% decrease, and has earned $5.8 million domestically against a $45 million budget.
