Other Mommy tops North American box office with $27.5 million debut

Jessica Chastain led ticket sales across North America as her new horror film took the weekend box office crown. The studio release brought in $27.5 million domestically. That total gave Universal Pictures a clean victory over competing new titles.

Estimates released on Sunday showed the movie played in 3,365 theaters across the United States and Canada. The horror title also launched in 50 international markets. The film reached $45.2 million worldwide.

The film cost around $19 million to produce. Blumhouse Atomic Monster served as the producer. The company previously made the movies “Backrooms” and “Obsession.”

The release drew poor reviews from critics and ticket buyers. Audiences gave it a D+ CinemaScore. The film joined “Megalopolis” and “Hereditary” with that same grade.

Jim Orr serves as the head of domestic distribution for Universal Pictures. Orr said ticket buyers split evenly between genders. About two-thirds were between 18 and 34 years old.

“No matter how you look at it, everybody turned out for it. It wasn’t just one particular demographic,” Orr said. “That usually is a very good sign.”

New drama struggles while overall domestic sales rise

“The Social Reckoning” struggled during its opening run. The release took fifth place with an estimated $5.5 million from 2,606 theaters. Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed the drama about a Facebook whistleblower.

Audiences gave the movie a B- CinemaScore. The cast includes Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong. Industry reports say Sony Pictures spent about $30 million to produce the project.

Paul Dergarabedian is the head of marketplace trends for Rentrak. Dergarabedian said studios often take chances during the month of October.

“These movies that are topical in nature, sometimes they resonate with the culture, sometimes they don’t,” said Dergarabedian. “You don’t always know what’s going to connect with audiences.”

Dergarabedian compared the drama’s start to the film “Digger.” That movie dropped 60% during its second weekend.

Older releases held top positions in North America. The psychological thriller “Verity” took second place with $11.5 million. “Resident Evil” took third place with $8.4 million. The survival film “Heart of the Beast” took fourth place with $7.1 million.

Rentrak measures movie ticket receipts across entertainment markets to track commercial performance. Studio distributors release early weekend estimates on Sundays before reporting final audited numbers on Mondays.

The total domestic market passed $8 billion on Friday in ticket sales. Full figures arrive on Monday for theaters across North America.