Two of 2024’s most eagerly anticipated films Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Speak No Evil finally hit theaters early September, and they mean business.
The sequel to Tim Burton’s horror-comedy Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sees the return of stars Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder as well as the addition of fresh-faced horror icon Jenna Ortega, and has left a few domestic September box office records broken in its wake. Grossing $188 million by its second weekend, it’s become the third most successful domestic release in 2024. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice also marks the first time since 2019 that the second weekend of September sees more than $100 million in earnings. And it doesn’t end there – the sequel’s already exceeded the earnings of the original movie’s entire 1988 theatrical run in just three days.
The Beetlejuice legacy sequel premiered on September 6th, 2024. Speak No Evil, a remake of the 2022 Danish film of the same name, released in theaters a week after on September 13th. Starring James McAvoy (Split) and Aisling Franciosi (Stopmotion), the thriller landed comfortably in second place at the domestic box office this weekend, grossing $11.5 million, already well on its way to making back its production budget of just $15 million. This is also considerably well for Speak No Evil, because though it is not attached to a franchise, it is still considered a remake, which have not been shown to fare as well with movie fans.
This summer’s MCU team-up flick Deadpool & Wolverine weighs in at Number 3 on its eighth week, with newer releases such as documentary Am I Racist? and biographical drama Reagan, earn fourth and fifth place on the domestic chart this week, respectively.
As summer draws to a close, a few notable milestones are still being hit with Alien: Romulus becoming the second most financially successful film in its franchise with a current grand total of 101 million. Alien: Romulus makes a splash with its success. The installment was originally not expected to perform as well as it has, with many calling out an ‘Alien’ formula that sees the later film outside of the first trilogy performing low, with a notable exception with Prometheus. It is with great satisfaction towards its creators that Alien: Romulus had such a satisfying theatrical run, as it was originally planned for a streaming premiere as a Hulu original.
Top 5 Domestic Box Office – Weekend 09/13
- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice with 188 million total (56.1 million for second week.)
- Speak No Evil with 12 Million total (12 million for first week.)
- Deadpool and Wolverine with 621 million (3.8 million for its eighth week.)
- Am I Racist? with 4.8 million (4.8 million opening week.)
- Regan with 23 million (2.9 million for week third week.)
- The Killer’s Game with 2.5 million (2.7 for opening week.)
- Alien: Romulus with 101 million (2.4 million in fifth week.)
- It Ends With Us with 145 million (2.1 million in sixth week.)
- The Forge with 24 million (2 million in fourth week.)
- God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust (1.8 million with 1.8 in first week)
The release of genre films like Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Speak No Evil signal the end of 2024’s summer blockbuster run, making way just in time for horror to dominate its yearly reign at the box office.
-Contributing reporting by Vanessa Winders.