Smile 2 starring Jack Nicolson’s nepo baby wins horror box office showdown after he recreated infamous grin
Smile 2 – starring Naomi Scott, Luke Gage and Jack Nicholson’s son Ray – emerged victorious after a horror movie box office showdown.
The fright film overshadowed top contender Terrifier 3 for the top spot.
The Smile sequel starring Scott, 31, as a pop star who begins experiencing terrifying and unexplained events as she prepares for a world tour, opened wide in more than 3,600 theaters and earned a $23 million payday.
Ray, whose mother is Nicholson’s former partner Rebecca Broussard, shocked fans with a creepy grin in the new film, which was virtually identical to the Oscar winner’s maniacal smile as Jack Torrance in the 1980 Stanley Kubrick classic The Shining.
In one legendary scene, a crazed Jack hacks at a bathroom door with an ax while his cringing wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) screams inside. Punching a hole in the door, he pokes his face through it, grins and exclaims, “Here’s Johnny!” in an improvised line.
The original Smile, released in September 2022, starring Sosie Bacon, was a sleeper hit, which was well received and grossed $217,408,513 worldwide.
Smile 2 has received an 83 percent rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an 83 percent rating from audiences on Popcornmeter.
Smile 2 stars Jack Nicholson’s son Ray (left). In the new horror, he recreated the Oscar winner’s maniacal smile as Jack Torrance in the 1980 Stanley Kubrick classic The Shining
Smile 2’s big win at the box office has production companies Paramount Pictures and Temple Hill beaming from ear to ear. The Scare Flight opened in first place with a $23 million payday
The Wild Robot remained in second place after its debut last week.
The animated film about a castaway who lands on an island inhabited only by wild animals has delighted young and not so young audiences to the tune of $10.1 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
Last week’s champion, Terrifier 3, dropped to third place.
In this latest chapter of the franchise, Art the Clown is determined to fight his way through a small town preparing for the Christmas holidays, finishing the job he started with a Halloween massacre in Terrifier 2.
The audience enjoyed the chase. Terriifier 3 generated more than $9.3 million in ticket sales.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice lost some ground to the newcomers, but maintained a strong presence in theaters across the country.
The spooky tale starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega grossed a whopping $5 million and a fourth-place finish.
We Live in Time finished in fifth place after opening in a wider release.
Naomi Scott stars in Smile 2 as a pop star preparing for a world tour who encounters a series of terrifying and inexplicable events
The Wild Robot remained in second place after its debut last week. The animated film about a castaway who lands on an island inhabited only by wild animals has delighted young and not-so-young audiences this week to the tune of $10.1 million
Last week’s champion, Terrifier 3, dropped to third place. The story follows Art the Clown as he tries to make his way through a small town preparing for the Christmas holidays. The horror film generated more than 9.3 million dollars in ticket sales
The romantic drama, starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh as a couple in a race against time, is a hit with critics and audiences alike, earning $4.185 million this weekend.
Joker:Folie à Deux continues its decline as audiences lose interest in the Joker sequel.
After three weeks in theaters, the film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga landed in sixth place with a gross of $2.18 million.
The film has yet to meet its $200 million budget, but is slowly getting there. To date, the comic-inspired film has raised $191,942,948 worldwide.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice lost some ground to the newcomers, but maintained a strong presence in theaters across the country. The spooky story starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega grossed a whopping $5 million and finished in fourth place
We Live in Time finished in fifth place after opening in a wider release. The romantic drama starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh as a couple in a race against time is a hit with critics and audiences alike, earning $4.185 million this weekend.
Piece by Piece, the creative biopic of Pharrell Williams, dropped two places to sixth.
The musical adventure, told with Lego characters to illustrate the singer and songwriter’s rise, continues to do well with audiences, netting a $2.1 million payday this week.
Transformers One parked in eighth place.
Joker:Folie à Deux continues its decline as audiences lose interest in the Joker sequel. After three weeks in theaters, the film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga has reached sixth place with a gross of $2.18 million
Piece by Piece, the creative biopic of Pharrell Williams, dropped two spots to sixth with a $2.1 million payday
Transformers One parked in eighth place with a profit of almost $2 million
Saturday Night, the film about the chaos behind the very first episode of the late night staple Saturday Night Live, fell to ninth place in the ratings, earning $1.8 million for its fourth weekend in theaters
Nightmare Before Christmas re-release rounds out the top ten with $1.129 million under the tree
The animated adventure featuring the voices of Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry in the origin story of the beloved Optimus Prime and the evil Megatron roared away with nearly $2 million.
Saturday Night, the film about the chaos behind the very first episode of the late night chapter Saturday Night Live, dropped to ninth place in the ratings.
The drama starring Gabriel LaBell as SNL creator Lorne Michaels earned $1.8 million during its fourth weekend in theaters.
The re-release of Nightmare Before Christmas rounds out the top ten. Tim Burton’s animated classic found $1.129 million under the tree as the film enjoys a renaissance with fans and their progeny celebrating some three decades since the film first hit theaters.