Universal’s “Him” debuted in second place on Friday at the domestic box office, just a bit behind last weekend’s anime smash “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle.” Meanwhile, Sony’s cosmic romance “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” is proving a theatrical bust with a debut outside the top five.
“Him” skimmed $6.47 million on its opening day (including $2 million from preview screenings) from 3,168 locations in North America. The movie is also sharing Imax and other premium large format auditoriums with “Demon Slayer,”” which means a boost from higher ticket prices. The Faustian football fable, directed by Justin Tipping and produced by Jordan Peele’s banner Monkeypaw Productions, is now projecting a $15 million opening weekend. That’d be behind initial projections for a debut north of $18 million, plus it’d likely put the R-rated horror original in second place behind “Demon Slayer.” Still, it’s not a nonstarter given the film’s relatively modest $27 million production budget.
More troubling is how rough the buzz around “Him” is and how that could impact its theatrical prospects moving forward. The movie was roundly rejected by critics and general audiences aren’t any warmer, with moviegoer survey firm Cinema Score polling a bad C- grade among early viewers. Horror tends to be a more divisive genre, but this kind of response hardly portends strong staying power. “Him” will also face some genre competition next weekend when Lionsgate’s “The Strangers – Chapter 2” opens.
With a release timed to the starting weeks of the NFL season, “Him” follows a rising pro quarterback (Tyriq Withers) who weighs selling his soul for GOAT status, tempted by his mentor (Marlon Wayans).
Much further down the charts, Sony’s “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” meandered to $1.4 million across Friday and preview screenings from 3,330 locations. The R-rated original fantasy, which stars Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie, will be lucky to hit even half of its pre-weekend projections for a debut north of $8 million.
It’s a rough outing for Sony, which hadn’t landed a big domestic opening all year until its anime label Crunchyroll scored with the licensed release of “Demon Slayer” last weekend. Sony spent $45 million to acquire global rights to “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” out of the 2024 European Film Market. It’s almost certain that the film won’t recoup that spend in theaters.
Props to Sony for betting on originality; the movie must’ve seemed an enticing prospect, with Farrell attached and Margot Robbie starring in her first theatrical follow-up to the megasmash “Barbie.” “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” also started as a Black List script and drew critical darling auteur Kogonada (of Charli Xcx’s “Kogonada Summer” shoutout) for the director’s first stab at a wide theatrical release. But the package didn’t even pan out critically, landing largely negative reviews. Audiences are relatively cold too, polling a B- grade from Cinema Score. It seems unlikely “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” will stick around long in theaters.
Sony can at least take solace in “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” still vying for first place. As expected, the epic length R-rated anime is facing a big plummet from its opening weekend, as most fans flocked to the earliest screenings possible. Still, with $4.56 million on Friday and projections for a $16.3 million sophomore outing (which would mark a 77% drop), “Infinity Castle” is primed to lead domestic charts once again. The event movie, intended as the first in a franchise-capping trilogy for the property, will cross $100 million domestic this weekend — only the 15th film of 2025 to notch that milestone. On Thursday, it surpassed “Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back” ($85 million) to become the highest-grossing anime movie ever released in North America.
Warner Bros. looks to take third place with “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” which exorcised another $3.7 million from audiences on Friday, marking a 56% drop from its daily total. In its third weekend of release, the New Line presentation now stands at $141.9 million domestic. It’s expected to soon pass up its Warner horror peer “Weapons” ($148.9 million) and take the rank as the 12th-biggest release of the year.
Lionsgate’s “The Long Walk” is eyeing fourth place, trudging to another $1.8 million on Friday. It’s projecting a $6.3 million second weekend for a 46% drop from its modest opening. Domestic total on the Stephen King adaptation looks to hit $22.7 million through the first 10 days.
Focus Features’ “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” actually was ahead on Friday with $1.9 million, though it’s projected for fifth with $6 million in its second weekend — a sizable 66% drop from its opening. Much like with “Demon Slayer,” it seems a lot of “Downton” fans prioritized early screenings for this one. “The Grand Finale,” meant as a send-off for the beloved British television series, should button up to a $31.4 million domestic total after its sophomore outing.
Also opening this weekend alongside “Him,” Angel Studios has its own football feature with the Michael Chiklis-starring “The Senior” in 2,405 locations. The film, based on the true story of a 59-year-old who returns to college sports, earned $1.25 million across Friday and preview screenings and is eyeing an opening in seventh place. Cinema Score turned in a glowing A grade.