‘Black Phone 2’ Rings Up $26.5 Million to Top a Quiet Box Office Weekend

Universal and Blumhouse’s horror sequel Black Phone 2 kicked off Halloween season with a solid $26.5 million debut from 3,411 theaters across North America, easily claiming the top spot during an otherwise sluggish weekend at the box office.

The film opened slightly above expectations — and just ahead of its 2021 predecessor, which premiered to $23 million while theaters were still recovering from the pandemic. Back then, The Black Phone faced stiff competition from summer heavyweights like Top Gun: Maverick, Elvis, and Jurassic World: Dominion. This time, the sequel had a quieter release window mostly to itself.

Disney’s Tron: Ares took second place with $11.1 million, a steep 66% drop from its opening weekend. Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s new comedy Good Fortune entered the charts at No. 3 with a modest $6.2 million from nearly 3,000 theaters. According to Comscore, the overall October box office is currently tracking 11% lower than the same period in 2024.

Globally, Black Phone 2 has pulled in $42 million so far — $15.5 million of that from international markets. That’s a strong start, though the sequel’s $30 million production budget was notably higher than the first film’s $18 million. Reviews have been generally positive but slightly less enthusiastic than the original: audiences gave it a “B” CinemaScore, compared to a “B+” for the 2021 film.

“We’ve seen word-of-mouth grow over the weekend,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s head of domestic distribution. “Scott Derrickson and Blumhouse have crafted something truly terrifying with a stellar cast — exactly what audiences want this time of year.”

Still, Black Phone 2 will need staying power to deliver profits. With ticket revenue typically split between theaters and studios, Blumhouse — known for its low-cost, high-return horror hits like Get Out, The Purge, and Halloween — is hoping this film marks a comeback after recent disappointments including Wolf Man and M3GAN 2.0. The studio’s next big bet is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, due out in December.

Good Fortune, directed by and starring Aziz Ansari in his feature debut, features Keanu Reeves as a bumbling angel who causes a body swap between Ansari’s struggling worker and Seth Rogen’s wealthy venture capitalist. The comedy earned decent marks — a 78% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a “B+” CinemaScore — but with a $30 million budget, analysts doubt it will recover its costs. “This is a fair start for a small, character-driven comedy,” said box office analyst David A. Gross, “but it’s unlikely to reach profitability.”

Disney’s Tron: Ares is facing a steeper challenge. The sci-fi sequel has earned $54.6 million domestically and $103 million worldwide after two weeks, but with a production cost of $180 million and a heavy marketing spend, it’ll need strong legs to avoid major losses.

Further down the charts, Channing Tatum’s Roofman earned $3.7 million in its second weekend (a 55% drop), bringing its total to $15.5 million domestically and $16.4 million globally — a mild return on an $18 million budget.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, continued its slow but steady run with $3.75 million in its fourth weekend. The R-rated epic has now reached $61 million domestically and $162.5 million worldwide. Despite strong reviews and Oscar buzz, its $200 million total cost (including marketing) means the film is likely to lose around $100 million in theaters. Warner Bros. disputes those figures but is counting on awards recognition to give the film long-term value.

Elsewhere, Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, a #MeToo-inspired thriller starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, and Andrew Garfield, expanded nationwide but failed to gain momentum. It earned just $1.56 million from 1,238 theaters, for a total of $1.77 million so far.

Among limited releases, Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident performed best, grossing $68,000 from three theaters in New York and Los Angeles — a $22,000-per-screen average. Meanwhile, Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, featuring Ethan Hawke as composer Lorenz Hart, struggled to connect with audiences, taking in $67,060 from five locations.