In the 2nd weekend, “Dune” beat “Last Night in Soho”, “Antlers”

After a record breaking start, the October box office ended quietly this weekend with “Dune” repeating itself at number one and two prominent newcomers to the genre, “Last Night in Soho” and “Antlers”. “, stumbling.

Whether it was because of Halloween falling on a Sunday, too many new options, or just a lack of enthusiasm, cinematic audiences seemed to have other plans this weekend. Notable exceptions are the latest “My Hero Academia” and Wes Anderson’s new photo “The French Dispatch”.

The first place always goes to the film by Timothée Chalamet with a larger budget and greater distribution. On its second weekend in theaters, “Dune,” which is also available on HBO Max, grossed an additional $ 15.5 million, the studio estimated on Sunday. Although down 62% from its debut, ticket sales were enough to give it one more week to top the North American charts.

With a production budget of $ 165 million (excluding marketing and promotion), “Dune” has now grossed $ 69.4 million in North America and $ 292.1 million worldwide. Warner Bros. and Legendary last week confirmed plans to move forward with a sequel slated to hit theaters exclusively in 2023.

“Halloween Kills,” on its third weekend, placed second with $ 8.5 million. The penultimate film in this modern trilogy has now grossed $ 115.1 million worldwide.

Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho” opened in sixth place. Aired on 3,016 screens, the elegant thriller distributed by Focus has grossed approximately $ 4.2 million. Thomasin McKenzie stars as a modern fashion student who dreams of the aspiring Anya Taylor-Joy singer in the 1960s more and more realistically at night.

“There are few greater champions of the theatrical experience than Edgar and we couldn’t be prouder that he made Focus his home,” said Lisa Bunnell, Focus Casting President.

Scott Cooper’s “Antlers,” about a mythical beast terrorizing a devastated Oregon town, also won around $ 4.2 million in 2,800 locations. The horror distributed by Searchlight stars Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons.

“Obviously we were hoping for a little more, but we faced off against ‘Last Night in Soho’, another really good genre film,” said Frank Rodriguez, Head of Casting for Searchlight. “Maybe they canceled each other.”

But he’s optimistic for the future as next weekend’s big releases include Princess Diana’s movie “Spencer” and the Marvel epic “Eternals,” and “Antlers” has a different audience.

One of the brightest moments of the weekend was “The French Dispatch,” also distributed by Searchlight, which grew after limited debuts and grossed $ 2.8 million from just 788 total locations. In 10 days of release, he made $ 4.6 million.

“We’re still thrilled with that,” Rodriguez said. “It’s amazing to see arthouse theaters that haven’t seen acts like this for 18 months finally starting to see people come out… We are helping open the doors to art venues and specialized theaters.

Although the weekend was muted, October turned into the top-grossing month of the year, with total revenue estimated at around $ 625 million. The previous record was in July with $ 583.8 million.

“October has turned into a successful month due to the unusual nature of the pandemic. So many great movies have moved in October, ”said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “It passed July. It never happens. “

Things are not quite back to “normal” yet. For comparison, total gross revenue before the October 2019 pandemic was around $ 781.6 million and in 2018 was $ 830.8 million. But, Dergarabedian said the strong October 2021 box office created momentum that is expected to continue through the end of the year.

“This sets up the last three months of the year that are more like summer than summer in 2021,” he added. “The public follows the film regardless of the month it is in. Movies define month – month does not define movies. “

Estimated Friday-Sunday ticket sales at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final national figures will be released on Monday.

1. “Dune”, $ 15.5 million.

2. “Halloween Kills,” $ 8.5 million.

3. “No Time to Die”, $ 7.8 million.

4. “My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission”, $ 6.4 million.

5. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”, $ 5.8 million.

6. “Wood”, $ 4.2 million.

7. “The Last Night in Soho,” $ 4.2 million.

8. “Ron was wrong,” $ 3.8 million.

9. “The Addams Family 2”, $ 3.3 million.

10. “The French Dispatch”, $ 2.8 million.

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Follow AP film writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr