Box Office Report: Chainsaw Man Slices Through the Weekend as Deliver Me From Nowhere Falls Flat

Another weekend, another curveball. The hyped prestige plays keep whiffing with general audiences, and the title taking the crown is an R-rated cartoon about a guy with a chainsaw for a face. Sure, why not.

Anime wins the weekend (again)

Crunchyroll came out swinging with Chainsaw Man: The Movie, which sliced its way to $17.25 million. It did not hit the heights of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle last month, but it crushed most projections (mine included) and just reinforced the obvious: theatrical anime is a reliable draw right now.

The runner-up race was closer than expected. The Black Phone 2 held stronger than people predicted in its second weekend and finished ahead of the Colleen Hoover adaptation Regretting You by a hair. Weird little wrinkle: both films star rising lead Mason Thames. Good weekend for him either way.

The Springsteen biopic faceplants

On paper, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere looked like the more commercial adult drama. Biopics usually have a steady floor, and casting The Bear breakout Jeremy Allen White should have widened the net. Instead, non-Bruce diehards stayed home. It opened in fourth with $9.1 million. Some folks are pointing at the World Series as the culprit, but my read is simpler: the older audience this movie needs is probably waiting for streaming. Expect it on Hulu around the holidays.

The rest of the field (and some tough drops)

Disney’s pricey gamble Tron: Ares kept sinking, off another 56% to $4.9 million in fifth place. The domestic cume is hovering around $63 million, which is not where you want to be when your production tab is north of $200 million.

Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune didn’t find much luck either. Even with Keanu Reeves playing an angel, it fell about 50% to $3.1 million.

Horror-wise, YouTuber-turned-director Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks landed with $2.35 million in a semi-wide release. Comscore has its per-screen average at $1,289, which is soft. The silver lining: it was made cheaply, so Neon should still eke out a modest profit.

Meanwhile, one prestige title actually connecting with people right now is One Battle After Another. It placed eighth with $2.33 million and is up to $65.4 million total. Elsewhere, Roofman (which I really liked) is winding down with another $2 million for a $19.36 million cume — it deserved better — and Laika’s ParaNorman creeped back into the top 10 via re-release with $991.9K.

• 1. Chainsaw Man: The Movie - $17.25M (exceeded expectations; anime continues to play big)
• 2. The Black Phone 2 - $13M (stronger-than-expected hold in week two)
• 3. Regretting You - $12.85M (just behind; shares star Mason Thames with the No. 2 movie)
• 4. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere - $9.1M (tough start for a buzzy awards hopeful with Jeremy Allen White)
• 5. Tron: Ares - $4.9M (down 56%; cume around $63M on a $200M+ budget)
• Good Fortune - $3.1M (about a 50% drop; Keanu Reeves co-stars as an angel)
• Shelby Oaks - $2.35M (semi-wide; per-screen average $1,289 per Comscore; likely profitable due to low budget)
• One Battle After Another - $2.33M (awards play finding an audience; $65.4M total to date)
• Roofman - $2M (cume $19.36M; underseen and better than its gross)
• ParaNorman (re-release) - $991.9K (sneaks into the top 10)

Next weekend

Halloween weekend looks like a remix. Netflix is re-releasing K-Pop: Demon Hunters, and it should take the top slot without breaking a sweat. The only new wide release is Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia, which quietly pulled in over $690K on just 40 screens this weekend before expanding. Also back for a lap around the block: the 40th anniversary re-release of Back to the Future.

What are you checking out? I have my guesses, but I’ll let you surprise me.