Other Mommy brought in $3.6 million in domestic Thursday previews, putting the Jessica Chastain horror film on pace for the roughly $20 million opening weekend projected by box office analysts, according to Deadline and Variety. The studio is counting on the preview haul to carry into a weekend facing heavy competition from MLB playoff games and a full NFL slate.
The film is playing in 3,200 North American theaters with showtimes starting at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Deadline reported. Both Deadline and Variety put its opening weekend target at $20 million or more, a number that would land comfortably above the film’s reported $19 million budget, which Deadline described as a net figure.
Other Mommy Previews: The Main Development
The $3.6 million preview total arrives as Other Mommy tries to hold off The Social Reckoning, the Aaron Sorkin-scripted follow-up to The Social Network, which Sony is releasing in 2,200 theaters. The Social Reckoning previews started two hours later, at 4 p.m. Thursday, and the film is targeting a far smaller debut of $7 million to $8 million, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
That gap tracks with the films’ differing budgets and audiences. The Social Reckoning carries a $30 million production budget, twice that of Other Mommy, according to Variety. Critics have also responded very differently to the two films.
Rotten Tomatoes scores for Other Mommy vary by source, with Deadline citing a 64% fresh rating and Polygon reporting a 20% score following an early wave of negative reviews. The Social Reckoning sits at 60% on Rotten Tomatoes, well below The Social Network’s 96% critics score, per The Hollywood Reporter.
What It Means For Fans
Horror has a strong track record in early October as audiences gear up for Halloween, and Chastain has delivered in the genre before. Her 2013 film Mama opened to $28.4 million and legged out to $71.6 million domestically and $146.4 million worldwide, Deadline noted. Her second horror outing with director Andy Muschietti, It Chapter Two, opened even bigger at $91 million in North America and finished with $211.6 million domestic and $473.1 million globally.
Other Mommy also arrives with a built-in audience from its marketing push. The film’s trailer has racked up 242 million global views on Peacock, according to Deadline. It will roll out internationally on a staggered schedule, with limited bows in Mexico, the UK and Australia before expanding to France, the Netherlands, Korea and Japan.
Background And Context
The weekend’s box office picture is complicated by last weekend’s holdover, Verity, which debuted with $32 million and has since climbed to $34 million domestically and $65 million worldwide against a $40 million budget, Variety reported. Despite that start, Verity carries a C+ CinemaScore and a 33% critics approval on Rotten Tomatoes, and analysts project it could fall 50% to 60% in its second weekend, putting it in the $13 million to $16 million range, according to Variety.
David A. Gross, who runs the box office newsletter FranchiseRe, pointed to a broader challenge facing mid-budget releases like The Social Reckoning. “They seem to have a better home on streaming than on the big screen,” Gross said. “Even when they’re well made, they’re not very cinematic in terms of what really works theatrically, which involves some kind of visual or emotional experience.”
Recent October comparisons offer mixed signals. Last year’s Tron Ares opened to $33.2 million but underperformed during a similarly sports-heavy weekend, Deadline reported. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere opened softer at $8.8 million before finishing at $22.6 million domestic and more than $45 million globally.
The End of Oak Street opened to $21 million last year, while Caught Stealing debuted at $7.8 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. October 2021, by contrast, saw theatrical strength from tentpoles like Dune, No Time to Die and Halloween Kills as the industry emerged from the pandemic.
What’s Next
Final domestic numbers for both Other Mommy and The Social Reckoning are expected once Friday grosses are tallied, with studios typically issuing official weekend estimates on Sunday. Moviegoers looking for more genre options this month can check out other October horror releases hitting theaters and streaming this season.
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