Los Angeles (GNP): Horror film Other Mommy, starring Oscar winner Jessica Chastain, opened at the top of the North American box office with $27.5 million in ticket sales, according to industry estimates released on Sunday.
Universal and Blumhouse released the film, which features Chastain in a dual role. One part is a sinister entity that terrorises a child while resembling the girl’s mother.
The result stands out because the film performed well despite poor reviews and a weak audience reception. That is the view of industry analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.
Gross believes the premise of a frightening, possessed mother played by Chastain could still draw international audiences. He added that this may happen before negative word of mouth begins to hurt the film’s performance.
Below the leader, the chart saw a change at the top. Amazon MGM’s psychological thriller Verity, based on the Colleen Hoover novel and starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, slipped from first to second place with $11.5 million.
Sony’s Resident Evil took third place with $8.4 million over the weekend. Its North American total now stands at $138.5 million, with another $181 million earned internationally.
Paramount’s Heart of the Beast finished fourth with $7.1 million. The film stars Brad Pitt as a former soldier surviving in the Alaskan wilderness with his loyal but traumatised combat dog.
The biggest disappointment came in fifth place. The Social Reckoning, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2010 film The Social Network, opened with just $5.5 million.
Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed the film. Oscar winner Mikey Madison plays Frances Haugen, the former Facebook employee who leaked internal company documents to a reporter, played by Jeremy Allen White.
Jeremy Strong portrays Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the role Jesse Eisenberg played in the original film.
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Gross offered a reason for the weak start. Stories about corporate intrigue, wealth and power have increasingly found an audience on television, he said, and they may lack the cinematic elements needed to bring viewers to theatres.
He argued that such films often struggle to deliver the emotion, spectacle and fantasy that attract big-screen audiences.
The rest of the top 10 followed at much lower totals. Forgotten Island earned $4.5 million, Primetime $4 million, Digger $3.2 million, Angel and the Badman $2.1 million and The Odyssey $2 million.
Gross said, “Horror movies are generally immune to a negative reception, but this is extreme.”
