'Weapons' Regains #1, 'Jaws' a close #2; 'Love, Brooklyn' Stellar in New York

Grosses continue their downward slide, but better results will come soon.

“Weapons” (Warner Bros.) regained the #1 spot in its fourth weekend. But we came close to having a second straight weekend when a film seen by millions at home ended up on top. Meantime, while Venice and Telluride begin the rollout of new specialized titles, “Love, Brooklyn” had one of the best platform debuts of the year in New York.

Unlike Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters,” last weekend’s top grosser, “Jaws” from 1975 had a regular three day play. Enhanced by IMAX screens which provided 27% of the gross, Steven Spielberg’s breakout industry-revolutionizing smash added $8.1 million to its massive total take. Adjusted to current ticket prices, that gets it to around $1,180,000,000 in total U.S./Canada gross.

That puts it at #7 all time, $18 million behind “The Ten Commandments.” (The top five in order are “Gone with the Wind,” “Star Wars,” “The Sound of Music,” “E.T.,” and “Titanic.”) It played in 3,220 theaters (about 1,500 more than “KPop”). Retro presentations like this seem to be transitioning from mid-week events to competing as regular releases. Expect to see more of these.

Like “KPop,” it added revenue to a bad weekend that otherwise would have been worse. Labor Day weekend remains as in most years the one holiday studios avoid for major openings (although “Equalizer 2” two years back opened to $34 million). That said, the $65 million is down 23% from last year, finishing August with the same trajectory seen all month (year to date is now up only 4% from 2024).

September looks much better, starting with the anticipated $50 million or higher opening of “The Conjuring: Last Rites” (WB) next weekend. That will continue WB’s staggering run of $40 million+ openings (it would be the seventh consecutive).

“Weapons” fell 34%. With a $10.2 million gross (low for #1 normally), it has reached $132 million after four weekends. WB’s successes this year, for the most part from non-franchise or maximizing their sequels should be the template for other producers.

Two new original releases, both from directors who have had both mainstream and some specialized/festival/award world success, failed to make much of a dent. Darren Aronofsky’s #3 “Caught Stealing” (Sony), a 1990s-set comedy/thriller with Austin Butler, did the best, with a minor $7.8 million. #5 “The Roses” (Searchlight), a remake of Danny DeVito’s hit “The War of the Roses” directed by Jay Roach and with Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch managed only $6.35 million.

Both films got consensus favorable if not ecstatic reviews. Despite the appealing casts and promising premises, the more sophisticated audiences needed for these films failed to materialize. Assume that increasingly if projects like these are going to exist, they will likely be made by Netflix or other streamers. The economics just don’t work theatrically unfortunately.

The best hold came from “The Bad Guys 2” (Universal), down only 7%, and that after two weeks at home on PVOD. It placed seventh with $4.7 million. Other good holds came from “Freakier Friday” (Disney), #4, off 27%, “The Fantastic Four: The First Steps” (Disney), #6, - 20%, and “Superman” (WB), #8, -24%.

SPECIALIZED/INDEPENDENT HIGHLIGHTS

• “Love, Brooklyn,” which premiered at Sundance 2025, opened exclusively at New York’s Angelika Theater to a stellar $49,000. The Brooklyn-set romantic comedy starring André Holland expands to 100 theaters nationwide this Friday.

• After a rocky path to release, the unrated “The Toxic Avenger” (Iconic/Cineverse) a remake of the Troma classic, fell just short of the top 10 with over $1.7 million in 1,995 theaters. That’s a decent showcase for future viewing, and like “Jaws” another case of a film that might have earlier gotten a midweek special presentation that was given a shot at a regular release. That said, it did under $900 per theater.

• “A Little Prayer” (Music Box), more than two and a half years after its Sundance premiere (initially acquired by Sony Pictures Classics) saw the light of day in 70 theaters for only $67,000. The marital drama with an acclaimed performance by David Straithairn deserved a better response (it has a very strong 86 Metacritic score), but at least it has gotten a release and a chance for further availability.

• The second week limited expansions of both “Splitville” (Neon) and “Lurker” (MUBI) had nearly identical per theater averages of just over $6,000, not great but at least showing signs of life. “Splitsville” did $168,000 in 28, “Lurker” $116,000 in 19. Both expand further this Friday.

• The second week of the much wider original openings of “Honey Don’t” (Focus), “Relay” (Bleecker Street), and the English version of “Ne Zha 2” (A24) all dropped more than 70% from their weak debuts.

TOP TEN (3 Day grosses)

1. Weapons (WB) Week 4; Last weekend #2

$10,210,000 (-34%) in 3,416 (-215) theaters; PTA: $2,989; Cumulative: $132,398,000

2. Jaws (Universal) REISSUE

$8,100,000 in 3,220 theaters; PTA: $2,531; Cumulative: $(adjusted) 1,180,000,000

3. Caught Stealing (Sony) NEW - Cinemascore: B; Metacritic: 66; Est. budget: $40 million

$7,825,000 in 3,578 theaters; PTA: $2,187; Cumulative: $7,825,000

4. Freakier Friday (Disney) Week 4; Last weekend #3

$6,524,000 (-27%) in 3,475 (-200) theaters; PTA: $1,877; Cumulative: $80,474,000

5. The Roses (Searchlight) NEW - Cinemascore: B+; Metacritic: 58

$6,350,000 in 2,700 theaters; PTA: $2,352; Cumulative: $6,350,000

6. The Bad Guys 2 (Universal) Week 5; Last weekend #5; also on PVOD

$4,740,000 (-7%) in 3,024 (-264) theaters; PTA: $1,567; Cumulative: $73,050,000

7. The Fantastic Four - First Steps (Disney) Week 6; Last weekend #4

$4,800,000 (-20%) in 2,785 (-405) theaters; PTA: $1,724; Cumulative: $264,626,000

8. Superman (WB) Week 8; Last weekend #7; also on PVOD

$2,585,000 (-24%) in 1,824 (-514) theaters; PTA: $1,417; Cumulative: $351,049,000

9. Nobody 2 (Universal) Week 3; Last weekend #6

$1,830,000 (-51%) in 2,502 (-780) theaters; PTA: $731; Cumulative: $20,062,000

10. The Naked Gun (Paramount) Week 5; Last weekend #9

$1,844,000 (-40%) in 1,744 (-1,032) theaters; PTA: $731; Cumulative: $20,062,000

Other specialized/independent titles

Films (limited, expansions of limited) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed. Metacritic scores and initial film festivals recorded when available. After week two, per theater averages only listed for expanding films if relevant.

OPENING (platform/limited; 20 or fewer theaters)

Love, Brooklyn (Greenwich) NEW - Metacritic: 67; Festivals include: Sundance 2025

$49,000 in 1 theater; PTA: $49,000

OPENING (wider)

The Toxic Avenger (Iconic) NEW - Metacritic: 61; Festivals include: Fantastic 2023

$1,755,000 in 1,995 theaters; PTA: $880

A Little Prayer (Music Box) NEW - Metacritic: 86; Festivals include: Sundance 2023

$67,200 in 70 theaters; PTA: $960

ONGOING/EXPANDING

Honey Don’t! (Focus) Week 2

$870,,000 in 1,338 (+21) theaters; PTA: $650; Cumulative: $5,066,000

Splitsville (Neon) Week 2

$168,520 in 28 (+23) theaters; PTA: $6,019; Cumulative: $318,524

Lurker (MUBI) Week 2

$116,242 in 19 (+15) theaters; PTA: $6,118; Cumulative: $195,945

Relay (Bleecker Street) Week 2

$328,906 in 1,218 (-265) theaters; PTA: $270; Cumulative: $2,894,000

Ne Zha 2 (English-language reissue) Week 2

$261,076 in 756 (-1,472) theaters; PTA: $756; Cumulative: $23,251,000

Sketch (Angel) Week 4

$63,206 in 200 (-427) theaters; Cumulative: $8,014,000

My Mother’s Wedding (Vertical) Week 4

$6,262 in 21 (-180) theaters; Cumulative: $895,341

Together (Neon) Week 5; also on PVOD

$182,490 in 204 (-235) theaters; Cumulative: $21,104,000

CatVideoFest 2025 Week 5

$31,683 in 22 (-17) theaters; Cumulative: $906,954

The Last Class (Abramorama) Week 9

$16,266 in 24 (-6) theaters; Cumulative: $499,730