Other Mommy Leads Box Office; Social Reckoning Struggles

‘Other Mommy,’ a horror film starring Jessica Chastain, opened with $27.5 million in North America, leading this weekend’s box office. The film, which features a sinister paranormal entity taking the form of a young girl’s mother, outperformed its competitor, ‘The Social Reckoning,’ which made $5.5 million in North America.

Despite its poor critical reception—19% on Rotten Tomatoes and a ‘D+’ CinemaScore—‘Other Mommy’ is financially sound, having earned $17.69 million internationally and totaling $45.19 million globally. Analysts note that horror films often withstand negative reviews, but this film’s reception is particularly harsh.

‘The Social Reckoning,’ a Facebook drama directed by Aaron Sorkin, struggled with poor word-of-mouth and a smaller target audience. The R-rated film, which follows a Facebook engineer leaking internal documents, opened to $5.5 million in North America, far below its projected range of $7 million to $8 million.

The film’s mixed reviews—54% on Rotten Tomatoes and a ‘B-’ CinemaScore—complicate its box office prospects. Its target demographic, older males, has been slow to return to theaters since the pandemic. Comparisons to its predecessor, ‘The Social Network,’ which earned $224 million globally, further highlight its underperformance.

Sony’s decision to label ‘The Social Reckoning’ a ‘companion piece’ rather than a sequel, along with its lower budget of $30 million compared to the original’s $40 million, may have influenced its reception. Analysts suggest that corporate intrigue stories have found more success on television than in theaters.

Meanwhile, other films like ‘Verity,’ ‘Resident Evil,’ and ‘Heart of the Beast’ filled the rest of the box office, with ‘Verity’ earning $11.4 million in its second weekend and ‘Resident Evil’ bringing in $8.3 million in its fourth frame.