Box Office: ‘The Social Reckoning’ Flops With $5.5 Million Debut, ‘Other Mommy’ Tops Box Office With $27.5 Million

The Social Reckoning from Sony opened considerably below forecasts with a $5.5 million launch as audiences shrugged at Aaron Sorkin’s Facebook takedown pic. Universal horror Other Mommy starring Jessica Chastain easily held its no. 1 spot at the box office through the weekend with a strong $27.5 million debut despite dismal reviews.

via: Variety

“Other Mommy,” a horror movie starring Jessica Chastain as a double-jointed doppelgänger from hell, scared up $27.5 million in its box office debut. Those ticket sales were enough to lead in North America over this weekend’s other new release, “The Social Reckoning,” which crumbled in fifth place with $5.5 million.

“Other Mommy” landed above expectations despite being one of the worst-reviewed movies of the year. Universal and Blumhouse’s campy thriller, about a sinister paranormal entity who takes on the appearance of a young girl’s mother, was saddled with a 19% on Rotten Tomatoes and a tragic “D+” grade on CinemaScore exit polls. (Even last weekend’s bomb “Digger” managed to earn a “C+” grade on exit polls.) Those marks don’t bode well for box office longevity, though “Other Mommy” is well-positioned financially against a modest $18 million budget. The movie collected $17.69 million at the international box office, bringing its global tally to $45.19 million.

“Horror movies are generally immune to a negative reception, but this is extreme,” says analyst David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. “Business is going to drop sharply.”

“The Social Reckoning,” too, will have to combat poor word-of-mouth in the coming weeks. That’s a problem because Sony’s Facebook drama didn’t incentivize crowds in the first place. The R-rated movie, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, was projected to open to $7 million to $8 million. Even those returns wouldn’t have come close to 2010’s “The Social Network,” which opened almost exactly 16 years ago to $22 million, not adjusted for inflation. Overseas, “The Social Reckoning” flatlined with $3.5 million from 29 markets for a $9 million worldwide start.

Critics and audiences were mixed on “The Social Reckoning,” which holds a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes and tepid “B-” grade on CinemaScore. The movie, picking up years after the first, follows a Facebook engineer (Mikey Madison) who leaks thousands of internal documents to a reporter (Jeremy Allen White) to blow the whistle on the company’s dark practices. Ticket buyers were mostly older males, a demographic that’s been slow to return to theaters since the pandemic.

Comparisons between the two films were always going to be tough because “The Social Network” is widely considered one of the best films of the 2010s. That film, directed by David Fincher, written by Sorkin and starring Jessie Eisenberg as Zuckerberg, ended up earning $224 million globally and won four Oscars (including one for Sorkin’s screenplay). Because of the first film’s pedigree, and the fact that Fincher and Eisenberg didn’t return for the second, Sony tried to distance the association between the movies and called the follow-up a “companion piece” rather than a sequel. That’s also likely why the studio economized on the budget; “The Social Reckoning” carries a $30 million price tag while “The Social Network” cost $40 million.

“Stories about corporate intrigue, money and power have found a home on TV. They lack the cinematic qualities that excite big-screen audiences,” Gross says. “The production cost was reasonable. But it’s still a lot of money to recoup at these box office levels.”

Meanwhile, “Digger” cratered in its second weekend with $3.2 million from 3,321 theaters, a 60% decline from its dismal $8 million debut. So far, the Tom Cruise satire has limped to $14 million domestically and $35.3 million globally. Warner Bros. spent above $160 million to produce the film, which is shaping up to be one of the biggest bombs ever, with losses that could top $200 million theatrically. Given the scale of the disaster, Hollywood stars have been coming to the defense of “Digger,” with bold-faced names like Anne Hathaway, Jane Fonda, Guillermo del Toro and Mandy Patinkin praising the film and encouraging audiences to go to theaters. (Spoiler alert: It hasn’t worked.)

Elsewhere, holdovers including Amazon MGM’s Colleen Hoover adaptation “Verity,” Sony’s “Resident Evil” reboot and Paramount’s Brad Pitt-led “Heart of the Beast” rounded out the box office charts.

Second place went to “Verity” with $11.4 million from 3,572 theaters, a steep 64% decline from its opening weekend. The psychological thriller, starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, is a win for Amazon MGM, having grossed $53 million in North America and $113 million worldwide to date against a $40 million budget.

“Resident Evil” dropped to third place with $8.3 million in its fourth weekend. So far, the R-rated video game remake has generated a strong $138.5 million domestically and $300 million globally against a $75 million budget. This film and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which is now the third-highest-grossing movie in history, will cushion any losses that Sony faces on “The Social Reckoning.”

“Heart of the Beast,” a wilderness thriller about a man who survives a plane crash with his dog, was No. 4 with $7.1 million from 3,365 theaters in its third frame. The film has earned $49.6 million in North America and $131.3 million worldwide. It’s held steady but will need to keep chugging along in theaters to justify its $82 million production budget.

Chris Rock’s directorial effort “Misty Green,” Alex Gibney’s probing Elon Musk documentary “Musk” and Neon’s Palme d’Or winning “Fjord” were among the new releases at the specialty box office. The commercial appeal of all three movies, which hope to find themselves in the Oscar race, will be tested as they roll out nationwide in the coming weeks.

“Fjord,” a legal thriller about parents (Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve) who are suspected of child abuse, enjoyed the strongest start with $124,000 from just four theaters in New York and Los Angeles — translating to $31,00 per location.

A24’s “Misty Green,” a showbiz drama about an actress (Rosalind Eleazar) fighting for her second act in Hollywood, collected $85,716 from six screens over the weekend — amounting to $14,286 per location — and $98,720 through its first four days in theaters.

Bleecker Street’s “Musk,” an incisive look at the world’s richest man, generated $68,900 from four locations — averaging $17,225 per screen — over the weekend. Those returns are notable considering “Musk” runs at nearly four hours (and has an intermission!), which limits each theater’s daily showtimes.

So far, October has been sluggish after a stronger-than-expected September at the box office. Revenues for the month are 23% ahead of the same point in 2025, which wound up as the lowest-grossing October in three decades, and 8% behind 2019, the last year before COVID upended the box office. So upcoming releases like Paramount’s video game adaptation “Street Fighter,” Disney’s survival thriller “Whalefall” and Warner Bros. and DC’s comic book-inspired “Clayface” are hoping to jolt attendance during the spookiest month of the year.

Although October might not be one for the record books, Hollywood has plenty to celebrate. Domestic revenues already eclipsed $8 billion, according to Rentrak, a milestone the industry didn’t cross last year until December. With potential blockbusters like “Avengers: Doomsday,” “Dune: Part III” “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” and “Focker-in-Law” on schedule around the holidays, this year will easily be the biggest at the box office in post-pandemic times.

“Summer was a major factor in hitting $8 billion so quickly,” says Rentrak’s head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian. “Fall has had its ups and downs, but things are definitely going to heat up in November, with December expected to see the box office pick up at a breakneck pace once again.”

Chart updating, reflective of Saturday and Sunday numbers:

1. Other Mommy (Universal), 3,365 theaters Fri $12.6M Sat $8.95M Sun $5.95M 3-day $27.5M/Wk 1

2. Verity (Amazon MGM), 3,572 theaters Fri $4M Sat $4.4M Sun $3.1M 3-day $11.5M (-64%) Total $53.9M/Wk 2

3. Resident Evil (Sony), 3,085 theaters, Fri $2.32M Sat $3.49M Sun $2.53, 3-day $8.35M (-35%) Total $138.5M/Wk 4

4 Heart Of The Beast (Paramount) 3,365 theaters Fri $1.9M Sat $3M Sun $2M 3-day $7.1M (-35%) Total $49.6MM/Wk 3

5. The Social Reckoning (Sony) 2,606 theaters Fri $2.25M Sat $1.76M Sun $1.49M 3-day $5.5M/Wk 1

6. Forgotten Island (Universal) 2,898 theaters Fri $1.1M Sat $1.9M Sat $1.5M 3-day $4.5M (-38%) Total $30.3M/Wk 3

7. Primetime (A24) 2,269 theaters Fri $1.26M Sat $1.57M Sun $1.18M 3-day $4M (-48% Total $41M/Wk 3

8. Digger (Warner Bros.) 3,321 theaters Fri $9757K Sat $1.3M Sun $915K 3-day $3.2M (-60%) Total $14.4M/Wk 2

9. Angel And The Bad Man (Angel Studios) 2,263 Fri $935K Sat $671k Sun $457k 3-day$2.06M/Wk 1

10. The Odyssey (Universal) 560 theaters, Fri $530k $840k $630k 3-day $2M (+54%) $623M/Wk 13

SATURDAY UPDATE: Horror Other Mommy from Universal is now eyeing a $28 million weekend with 3,365 playdates, barreling ahead atop the box office. The film is so far playing well across the board but best in the West, South and South Central U.S, with LA’s AMC Burbank the top grossing cinema.