Unbelievably, the ghost with the most got the better of the mighty Autobots and Decepticons. The weekendbox officeseemed like it would almost certainly belong to Chris Hemsworth’s new filmTransformers One,but in a stunning September shocker,Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceupsets director Josh Cooley’s animated adventure by a mere million dollars. According to the estimates, theBeetlejuicesequel will squeak its way into the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office with $26 million (perThe Numbers).
Meanwhile, Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Brian Tyree Henry’s Transformers origin story will end up ranking at No. 2 with $25 million.Transformers Onestarted off by winning the top spot at the box office on Thursday, September 19, during its preview screenings ($3.4 million) and again on Friday with $9.6 million, but everything changed on Saturday. In a stunning turn of events, moviegoers began flocking toBeetlejuice Beetlejuicerather than the newTransformersflick.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the original Tim Burton classic that starred Michael Keaton and Wynona Rider in a horror-comedy that involved ghosts trying to scare off new homebuyers from taking their house. The sequel brings back Michael Keaton as the hilarious and sleazy ghost with selfish intentions, now joined by Jenna Ortega in a new role.
Michael Keaton’s spooky sequel won easily on Saturday, September 21, in its head-to-head competition withTransformers One,asBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceascended to No. 1 convincingly with $11.8 million. And on Sunday the trend continued as the ghost with the most edged out the Orion Pax (Optimus Prime) and D-16 (Megatron) origin story $7.5 million to $6.3 million.
Newcomers Don’t Have Enough Juice to Challenge for No. 1
Transformers One’spromising box office forecastpredicted that Chris Hemsworth’s new film would make somewhere between $40 million and $50 million domestically (perBoxoffice Pro), but the animated origin story severely underperformed. And whileSpeak No Evilsecured the No. 3 slot with $5.9 million, the rest of this weekend’s newcomers all failed to provide a viable challenge against No. 1Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Among the other new films this weekend, Halle Berry’s horrific survival thriller,Never Let Go,did the best outside ofTransformers One,and it checks in at No. 4 with $4.5 million. Demi Moore’sThe Substancedidn’t fare too badly either, but it was shut out of the Top 5 at No. 6 with $3.1 million, asDeadpool & Wolverinesecured the No. 5 spot with an additional $3.9 million. And then there’s No. 9Jung Kook: I Am Still,which is the last of the newbies to appear in the Top 10 ($1.4 million).
Sebastian Stan’s new film from A24,A Different Man,quietly debuts in limited release (4 cinemas). And while it doesn’t rank all that high in the overall box office, Stan’s collaboration with director Aaron Schimberg did boast the weekend’s best per-theater average ($14,032). Additionally, the documentary,Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field,which focuses on the famed Emmy award-winning costume designer (Sex and the CityHBO series), also thrives in limited release (1 venue) with $10,254.
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Lastly, Sashe Calle’s critically acclaimedIn the Summersfinally drops, albeit only in two theaters. Calle, who is best known for portraying Supergirl, aka Kara, inThe Flash(2023), is charming the critics. And, at the time of this writing,In the Summersboasts an impressive 90% Tomatometer rating against 40 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Up next:The Wild Robotdrops onSeptember 27,but director Chris Sanders’ animated adventure will have to take advantage of its premium IMAX screens quickly, because the following weekend (October 4) marks the beginning ofJoker: Folie à Deux’shighly anticipated theatrical run. And theJoker(2019) sequel is eyeing a massive box office opening weekend.
