Box Office Doldrums continue as ‘Barbarian’ debuts with $10 Million

“Barbarian,” a horror film that might have audiences thinking twice about booking that next Airbnb, produced a better-than-expected $10 million in its domestic debut.

Since the box office has been a wasteland for certain weeks now, those ticket sales were sufficient to lead domestic charts, regardless of scarcely arriving at double digits. This weekend’s other new nationwide release, “Brahmastra Part One: Shiva,” opened in second place with $4.4 million from 810 North American theaters. The two movies are supported by Disney.

However, “Barbarian” landed a lukewarm “C+” CinemaScore, the twisty thriller is profiting from word-of-mouth, given the film’s zany and flat-out terrifying turns. Peter Debruge gave “Barbarian” high recognition, considering it “new horror classic,” one that gets “downright demented as it goes along.” If “Barbarian,” which stars Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård and Justin Long, keeps individuals talking, the film is probably going to continue filling seats during a creaky September at the box office.

For an original, low-budget horror story, David A. Gross, who runs the film counseling firm Franchise Entertainment Research, alludes to the debut as “a good opening.”

“The weekend figure is somewhat above average and reviews are sensational,” he said. “These are relatively inexpensive and profitable movies that are enjoyed best on a big screen.”

For “Brahmāstra,” the first in a three-part Bollywood film franchise, landing in second place isn’t excessively pitiful since it’s just playing in 810 theaters, far less venues than most movies presently in wide release.

“Brahmāstra: Part One” happens in modern-day India and follows Shiva — a young man on the brink of an epic love, with a young lady named Isha. However, their reality is flipped around when Shiva discovers that he has a strange association with a mysterious society called Brahmānsh.

In Variety’s review, Courtney Howard referred to the film as “special and innovative,” as well as a “wildly entertaining jump start to a planned trilogy – touted as Bollywood’s first original cinematic universe, the ‘Astraverse.'”

Sony’s “Bullet Train” arrived in third spot with $3.2 million from 3,056 North American theaters, carrying its domestic tally to $92.5 million.

At No. 4, Paramount’s getting through blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” captured $3.17 million in its sixteenth week on the big screen. For those keeping track of who’s winning at home, Tom Cruise’s blockbuster continuation has stayed in the top five on domestic box office charts for 15 weeks of the past 16 weeks. Up to this point, “Top Gun 2” has netted a dumbfounding $705.6 million in North America and $747.8 million abroad.

“The Invitation” took the fifth space with $2.6 from 3,117 venues. Following three weeks of delivery, Sony’s creepy thriller has produced $18 million.