One movie being torpedoed by word of mouth seems to be Scream 7, which fell an astounding 73% in week two. Even for an admittedly front-loaded horror film, that’s a steep decline, with the B-minus CinemaScore quite telling. Even if audiences rushed out to see it the first weekend, it’s clear they didn’t like what they saw, so word of mouth is sinking the movie like a stone. That said, it’s already made $93 million, so it will still turn a hefty profit for Paramount Pictures, although perhaps some creative shake-ups are in order to ensure the series’ longevity.

One movie that came out this weekend that’s proven to be an absolute disaster is Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride. A feminist reimagining/updating of The Bride of Frankenstein, the $7.2 million gross is likely a worst-case scenario result for the movie, which WB pumped at least $90 million into, without prints and advertising. Deadline is reporting that foreign grosses are even more anemic, with the global total a middling $13.6 million, which is astounding as tracking earlier this week suggested the movie would make $40 million internationally. At this rate, it will be lucky to gross $40 million all in worldwide by the end of its run, but even that is wildly optimistic. Given the cost, it seems likely The Bride will go down in history as one of the biggest box office disasters of all time. Ouch.

Sony’s GOAT managed to make another $6.6 million, for an $83 million domestic total despite competition from Hoppers. Wuthering Heights, while not the box office triumph Warner Bros. was hoping for, is still looking like something of a belated success (especially compared to The Bride), with it adding another $3.7 million to its $78 million total. Whether or not it turns a profit is still a question mark, but with worldwide grosses included it should at least break even.

One movie that seems likely to lose a bundle is Amazon/MGM’s Crime 101, which cost a reported $90 million and — including this weekend’s $2 million gross — has only made $33 million so far. Hopefully the studio’s next movie, Project Hail Mary, will turn things around for them, as they are taking some big swings, and you hate to see that go unrewarded.

Sam Raimi’s Send Help is still chugging along, with another $1.6 million added to its $62.7 million gross. The Christian film I Can Only Imagine 2 seems to have missed the mark with its audience, with this weekend’s $1.5 million gross giving it a weak $16 million total, which is only a fraction of the $80 million-plus its predecessor grossed. Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis in Concert continued to do solid business, grossing $1.5 million toward a $10.9 million domestic total. Finally, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was re-released this weekend and managed another $1.3 million toward its hefty $135 million gross.

Next weekend sees the release of another Colleen Hoover adaptation, Reminders of Him, the A24 horror flick Undertone, and early 70mm screenings of Project Hail Mary in limited release. What will top the box office? Let us know in the comments!

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It doesn’t help that Frankenstein fatigue is very real, with this not even being the only feminist redux of the story in recent years, as Lady Frankenstein also turned out to be a flop. Guillermo del Toro’s own faithful rendition of Frankenstein went straight to Netflix, so it’s hard to judge whether or not audiences would have turned out for that one either. Still, the C+ CinemaScore rating doesn’t lie, making it clear audiences are not enjoying Maggie Gyllenhaal’s film, although I still think somewhere down the line it may become a cult film.

Instead, the box office is being ruled by Pixar’s Hoppers, with it on track for a $40 million opening (exactly what we predicted), which is decent, marking their best opening for an original movie since Coco in 2019. Yet it can’t be denied that this is hardly a blockbuster result for a company that used to routinely set box office records, with it seeming more and more these days that their spell over audiences is evaporating. For Hoppers to be considered a success, a lot will depend on how it does next weekend, but its A CinemaScore rating is a good sign.

Meanwhile, Scream 7 has managed to stab its way into second place, with it looking at only about $18 million, which would mark a disappointing 72% week-to-week decline. Horror movies are always front-loaded, but this is a big drop-off. While these movies still print money, it will be important for the makers of Scream 8 to perhaps be a bit more innovative if they want to keep it going into the double digits.

We’ll be back tomorrow with a full box office roundup.

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After a massive opening for Scream 7, exhibitors seem to be on track for another solid weekend, with Pixar’s Hopperslooking like it’s set for an opening north of $40 million. Given the excellent reviews, it’s possible the film even hits $50 million. While that would be on the low end for the studio, it’s still a significant improvement over their last film, Elio, which earned a disastrous $20.8 million. Pixar movies tend to have legs, so it’s possible Hoppers could have a similar trajectory to Elemental, which opened soft with $29 million but legged out to a $150 million domestic gross.

This weekend’s other new opener, The Bride, has a less rosy outlook. A pricey feminist reimagining of The Bride of Frankenstein, reviews for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s film have been all over the place. Some are calling it brilliant, while others are saying it’s a total dud (I was somewhere in between). One thing everyone seems to agree on, though, is that its box office prospects are dim, with it very much an “art film” as opposed to the horror movie it’s being marketed as. I predicted an opening in the $12 million range, but it could go a lot lower. It could even, theoretically, get beaten by Sony’s GOAT if it only hits single digits, but I’m expecting curious horror fans will at least help it reach double digits.

Whatever the case, Scream 7 will easily take second place this weekend, with about a $30 million gross. The CinemaScore rating is a weak B-minus, and the franchise has always been front-loaded. Even so, its performance has been terrific, and it’s likely Scream 8 will be in production before long.

Here are my predictions:

1. Hoppers: $40 million
2. Scream 7: $30 million
3. The Bride: $12 million
4. GOAT: $7 million
5. Wuthering Heights: $4 million

What are you seeing this weekend? Let us know in the comments.

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PLOT: After being murdered, a gangster’s moll, Ida (Jessie Buckley), is brought back to life by the brilliant Dr. Euphonious (Annette Bening) at the behest of Frankenstein’s monster, aka Frank (Christian Bale), who’s looking for a companion.

REVIEW: The Bride (or rather The Bride!) is The Lost Daughter director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s highly ambitious take on the 1935 sequel to Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, centering on the mute character from James Whale’s classic Universal Monsters film (she doesn’t actually ever come to life in Mary Shelley’s book). This actually isn’t the first modern movie centered around the character, with it having inspired a little-remembered 1985 film, also called The Bride, which starred Jennifer Beals, Clancy Brown (as the monster), and Sting as Dr. Frankenstein — not that anyone remembers.

It comes along at perhaps a bad moment, with it having to exist in the shadow of Guillermo del Toro’s recent Frankenstein, which is up for a slew of Oscars this year. Yet, anyone fearful of another take on that familiar story need not worry, as Gyllenhaal’s movie does its own thing — quite radically. It doesn’t always work, with it being a bit of a mess more often than not, but at times it’s a pretty dazzling spectacle.

The film is set in a deliberately anachronistic 1930s-era Chicago, with it home to bootleggers and gangsters, but also goth clubs where bands like Fever Ray play neon-lit raves. In terms of visuals and style, The Bride is a triumph. Gyllenhaal has built a unique world for Jessie Buckley’s Bride and Christian Bale’s Frank to inhabit, with dazzling production design and razor-sharp cinematography by Lawrence Sher.

The performances all swing for the fences, with Buckley’s work here an interesting contrast to her Oscar-nominated turn in Hamnet. That movie was about nuance; this is maximalist, ear-shattering rage from start to finish. In fact, the film plays more like a horror take on Bonnie & Clyde meets Sid & Nancy rather than a Frankenstein movie, with Christian Bale’s Frank a kindly, lovesick guy who’s sensitive — even if he won’t hesitate to cave in the occasional face or two. Buckley is dialed up to eleven, while Bale is her low-key foil.

It’s too bad that Gyllenhaal’s screenplay feels a bit too much like a hodgepodge of ideas, many of which don’t work. The idea to have The Bride occasionally possessed by the spirit of Mary Shelley (also played by Buckley), who also breaks in now and then as a narrator, is very gimmicky and takes away from Ida/The Bride’s character arc, sending the movie off on tangents that are more confusing than gripping.

The influence of Todd Phillips’s Joker is also palpable, with the film not only using the same DP (Sher) and composer (Hildur Guðnadóttir), but also a producer — Emma Tillinger Koskoff. It feels like the movie must have been pitched as Frankenstein meets Joker when that was still fashionable (the film was already well underway when Joker: Folie à Deux flopped), and it covers a bit too much of the same ground, with The Bride influencing women all over the world the film is set in to rise up, give themselves the black facial mark the Bride has, and murder men.

It feels like this notion was just tacked on, with it never really paying off. Some of the dialogue is also a bit too on the nose. While it’s definitely a feminist take on the genre, having The Bride literally yell out “Me Too” has the subtlety of a jackhammer.

The film is also overloaded with characters who distract from the Bride/Frank dynamic, specifically Peter Sarsgaard as a lazy detective and Penélope Cruz as his brainy secretary, who’s the real sleuth of the pair. A lot of time is spent on them, but they feel like they walked in from another movie, and whenever we leave The Bride and Frank, the film grinds to a halt.

Yet, there are some inspired casting choices, with Jake Gyllenhaal having a fun role as the Fred Astaire–style movie star that Frank idolizes, with him even leading a few full-on musical numbers. Oddly enough, of all the Frankenstein movies Maggie Gyllenhaal seems to be pulling from, the one she references the most is Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein, with Bale’s Frank shouting out “Puttin’ on the Ritz!”

Much has been written about how the theatrical cut of The Bride took some time to come together, and it has the feel of a movie that’s been edited down. It’s uneven, at times frustratingly bad, but then at others it’s absolutely riveting. Regardless of whether or not The Bride goes down as a failure or a success (it will almost certainly become a cult movie), there’s no denying that Gyllenhaal has serious chops behind the camera and is a rising talent as a director.

The Bride is a movie that I loved at times and disliked at others. Is it actually great? No. But it has more than a few moments of brilliance within it, and at its worst it’s never dull.

The Bride (2025)

AVERAGE

6

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What’s this? A Pixar movie is getting early positive buzz, and the studio might have a rock-solid hit on its hands. Praise the animation gods, let’s go! According to reports, Pixar‘s Hoppers could give the studio its best feature film launch in years, as the Daniel Chong-directed animal adventure could make as much as $88 million worldwide this weekend!

Hoppers is a Hit With Critics

Opening in 41 markets, Hoppers could be Pixar’s most successful feature debut since 2017’s Coco ($104.7 million). Early word suggests Hoppers is a darn good time, with reviewers praising its humor, unique story, and lovable cast of characters. On a broader scale, Hoppers has an impressive 97% “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a killer score from critics who’ve grown tired of Pixar’s formula in recent years. The exceptionally high score implies that Hoppers has something unique going on that critics and audiences crave and know Pixar is capable of delivering.

In North America, Hoppers could earn $36M-$38M at 4,000 theaters, with another $45M-$50M overseas. Pre-sale tickets for Hoppers continue to sell, adding $3 million to the film’s opening weekend total. In addition to playing in regular theaters, Hoppers also gets some IMAX real estate this weekend, bumping the ticket price up by a few dollars per pop for the extra bells and whistles.

The Bride Comes Alive in Theaters This Weekend

Sharing IMAX screens with Hoppers this weekend is Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride, which is looking to earn $16M-$18M domestic, with another $22M from international for a $38M-$40M worldwide. The Bride stars Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penelope Cruz, Annette Bening, Peter Saarsgard, and Jake Gyllenhaal, taking place in 1930s Chicago, where Frankenstein asks Dr. Euphronius to help create a companion. They give life to a murdered woman as the Bride, sparking romance, police interest, and radical social change.

What’s Hoppers About?

As for Hoppers, Pixar’s new film centers on a 19-year-old animal lover who uses technology to place her consciousness into a robotic beaver to uncover mysteries in the animal world beyond her imagination. You can check out our review of Hoppers here.

As for me, I plan to see Hoppers in theaters this weekend. If we don’t show up when Pixar is knocking it out of the park with an original idea, how will they know to make more unique films instead of sequel after sequel?

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Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride is set to hit theaters this week. The first reactions to the gothic romance started trickling in on social media a few days ago, following the film’s world premiere in London. The film is tracking soft, so it’s not currently projected to be a monster at the box office. However, it could be the kind of welcome shake-up for mainstream movies if it lives up to its hype.

The film stars Jessie Buckley as The Bride and Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s Monster. “A lonely Frankenstein travels to 1930s Chicago to seek the aid of a Dr. Euphronius in creating a companion for himself,” reads the official synopsis. “The two reinvigorate a murdered young woman and the Bride is born. She is beyond what either of them intended, igniting a combustible romance, the attention of the police and a wild and radical social movement.“

The concern

The early reactions talk about how bold the movie is and how its content is totally unhinged. According to Variety, after the studio held test screenings, Warner Bros. had requested that Gyllenhaal tone down the intensity of the violence. Gyllenhaal explained, “There’s sexual violence. There’s violence. Because it’s a big studio movie, we tested and tested it. We had big screenings in malls, where people came to see it, which I had never been a part of as an actress or a director before. So fascinating. And one of the things that they brought up was the violence: Is it too violent? And I was talking about it with a girlfriend of mine, who said — and she wasn’t being reductive — ‘I wonder if you had been a man making this movie, if you would have had the same response.’”

Gyllenhaal made it a point not to desensitize the extreme scenes during filming, so the uneasy response is just what she aimed for. Warners “asked to take some” of the violence out of the movie during test screenings. She reveals, “So what you’re seeing is even a little bit pulled back from what was originally in the movie.”

Gyllenhaal also explained how she wanted to have gravity with the deaths in the film, “One of the things that was important to me is that everybody who is killed, is hurt — we, at least for a moment, get to know them. There’s the Stormtrooper version of killing people, where they have white masks on and you don’t know who they are. And then there’s the version where every single death has a consequence and a cost — every single one.”

The understanding

As The Bride comes from a big studio with more general audience appeal than something like A24, the savvy director still realized that she could compromise with Warners. “Yeah, it was difficult, but not in a bad way. It was just very new for me,” Gyllenhaal told The Times. “I loved working with Pam Abdy, who runs Warner Bros. with Mike De Luca. She understood me and understood what I was saying. And there would be times where she would be like: ‘Maggie, you cannot have Frankenstein lick black vomit off the Bride’s neck. It’s just too much. You can’t do it.’ But she understood why I wanted it.”

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Warner Bros. has plenty of horror offerings on its slate and showcased a few of them during its presentation at CinemaCon, including Maggie Gyllenhaalʼs The Bride.

Audiences were treated to a teaser trailer for The Bride, which star Jessie Buckley (who plays the titular character) described as “the punkest love that’s ever existed.” Think Bonnie and Clyde, Wild at Heart, Sid & Nancy, and Natural Born Killers. The teaser finds Buckley’s character being horrifically murdered, but she’s later reanimated and meets Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s monster. The pair set out to avenge her murder and become fugitives.

Gyllenhaal said she was looking for something “pop and big” and “radical” for her next project. She encountered a man at a party with a Bride of Frankenstein tattoo on his arm. “It hooked me and I went home and watched the movie,” she said. “The bride is in the movie for about three minutes and she doesn’t speak which could not be more different than our bride.“

“All of us have a little aspect of something monstrous in us, which is why we love monster movies, probably,” she continued. “You can run from it your entire life or you can shake hands with it… The monsters in our movie do monstrous things…but they’re also our heroes.” In the film, Frankenstein’s monster is a lover of movies, and Gyllenhaal shot the film in IMAX.

We also saw a clip from Final Destination: Bloodlines, which our own Chris Bumbray said looked like a blast. If you’d like to stay completely unspoiled, I recommend refraining from reading the clip’s description.

It features two brothers who are arguing in a hospital about the best way to cheat death, either by killing someone else or killing themselves by flatlining and resituating. One brother has a peanut allergy, so he decides to buy some peanut butter cups at the vending machine. It gets stuck, they try to tip the machine, it almost falls on them, but doesn’t. In another room, an MRI machine turns on and gruesomely pulls the piercings from one of the brother’s nose, chest, and ears. The other brother starts to have a reaction to the peanut butter cups, and… well, it doesn’t turn out well for them.

There was also a sizzle reel for Mortal Kombat II, which ends with Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage exclaiming, “I’m Johnny f***ing Cage!” New Line chief Richard Brenner, who introduced the movie, added that we should “Expect amazing fights, epic battles and a few fatalities.” The film is set to hit theaters on October 24th.

Another movie hitting WB’s CinemaCon stage is Weapons from Barbarian director Zach Cregger. The mysterious film stars Julie Garner and Josh Brolin. The CinemaCon crowd saw an early trailer for the film. As it unravels, it constantly reinvents itself. The teaser is exclusive to CinemaCon and will not be released to the public.

The film is set in a small town where a classroom of children taught by Julia Garner vanishes. All the kids woke up the night before, walked into the dark, and never returned. Brolin is a father in the film, and people think he’s somehow involved with the children vanishing. Nightmares of the child haunt Garner’s character. As folks said, Weapons is like a horror version of Magnolia. The preview for Weapons has some striking imagery and was filmed in IMAX.

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