'Smile 2' Scores $23M Box Office Win, 'Anora' Jolts Awards Conversation

Paramount and Temple Hill are beaming broadly.

Their new film, Smile 2, is leading the US box office with an estimated $23 million after grossing $9.4 million on Friday, including more than $2 million in previews. That would place the film's premiere just ahead of the first Smile, a sleeper smash that opened to $22.6 million in late September 2022 and went on to generate more than $217 million globally against a $17 million budget.

Naomi Scott in 'Smile 2.'

Paramount Pictures

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film, written and directed by Parker Finn, follows an evil spirit that jumps hosts via a diabolical grin, this time infecting a troubled pop diva (Naomi Scott) with a ton of pain to feed on. Scott stars alongside Lukas Gage, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Miles Gutierrez-Riley. This time, the budget was $28 million, which is a low figure for a large studio.

Smile 2 received a B CinemaScore from audiences, matching the score of the first picture. It faces stiff opposition from holdover slasher film Terrifier 3, which grossed $18.9 million last weekend despite being unrated and receiving no TV advertising.

Terrifier 3, from Cineverse, is expected to finish third on the weekend chart with $9 million to $10 million, a good hold that puts its domestic total at around $26 million against a $2 million production budget.

Some speculate that Terrifier 3 benefits DreamWorks/Universal's The Wild Robot since cinemas will not allow anyone under the age of 17 to see it unless accompanied by an adult. (Exhibitors are treating it as an R-rated film.) Rival studios believe that teens are purchasing tickets to watch Wild Robot and then slipping into Terrifier 3 (the same could be true for Smile 2, which is classified R).

Whatever the case, Wild Robot, which is available in the home via premium VOD, has bragging rights for finishing second in its fourth weekend, crossing the $100 million barrier domestically.

Sean Baker's Anora, which will open in five locations in New York City and Los Angeles, is the big news at the awards season box office. Neon's specialty film, about a prostitute worker who falls for the son of a Russian millionaire, won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Anora is expected to gross approximately $108,000 per theater, the highest total since Wes Anderson's Asteroid City last year.

Last weekend, a slew of rival Oscar hopefuls underperformed when they chose to premiere nationwide rather than on a platform, including Jason Reitman's Saturday Night.