Universal's horror release "Other Mommy" collected $3.6 million from Thursday previews, setting it up to win the weekend box office, Variety and Deadline both reported. Sony's "The Social Reckoning," the other new wide release, took in $650,000 in its own preview run.
Other Mommy Leads the Newcomers
Deadline said the previews began at 2 p.m. Thursday and ran in 2,850 theaters. The film opens on 3,365 screens. Variety projects a debut of $22 million to $28 million, with some forecasts reaching $35 million. Deadline puts the opening in the mid-$20 million range. Variety expects that to be enough to knock off "Verity," the Colleen Hoover adaptation with Anne Hathaway that won last weekend.
Deadline called the preview number strong for a Blumhouse film of this size, but warned that early reviews are "very far from kind." It said horror tends to be a safe bet heading into Halloween, and that the market is busy but has no new tentpoles. Variety tied the film's prospects to a strong year for the genre, citing "Obsession" and "Backrooms."
Jessica Chastain plays two roles: Ursula, a mother, and the entity known as Other Mommy, who looks just like her. The entity torments Ursula's family, including her husband Russell (Jay Duplass) and young daughter Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark). Rob Savage directed, and James Wan produced with Blumhouse-Atomic Monster. The story comes from Josh Malerman's 2024 novel "Incidents Around the House." Variety said the trailer, which has a jump scare, went viral after playing before theatrical screenings.
The Social Reckoning Opens Smaller
Deadline described the $650,000 from "The Social Reckoning" as soft. Previews started at 4 p.m. in 2,368 locations. Variety has the film tracking at $5 million to $10 million for the weekend, and Deadline projects a mid-single-digit-million debut. Deadline named "Digger" as the comparison title, which took $1.2 million in previews last week.
Aaron Sorkin directed the film, a follow-up to 2010's "The Social Network." It follows Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), who works with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) on internal company documents. Jeremy Strong plays Mark Zuckerberg, the role Jesse Eisenberg played in the first film. Deadline put the critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes at 59% fresh.
The Week Before
Deadline's rundown of the previous frame had "Verity" at $42.4 million from 3,510 theaters. "Resident Evil" followed with $17.8 million, bringing its third-week total to $130.2 million. Final weekend numbers will show whether "Other Mommy" holds up against its reviews.
Reporting sources: Variety, “Box Office: ‘Other Mommy’ Makes $3.6 Million in Previews” · Deadline, “‘Other Mommy’ Scares Up $3.6 Million In Previews, Soft Start For ‘The Social Reckoning’ – Box Office”.