Other Mommy box office figures put the Universal horror thriller in first place on Friday, according to Variety. The Jessica Chastain-led film took in $12.6 million from 3,365 North American theaters, a strong start for a movie that carries an $18 million price tag. The film was produced by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, and its opening adds to a genre that has been on a hot streak this year.

Variety projects that the film will add $28 million by Sunday. Those numbers are still forecasts, so the final weekend order will depend on how the rest of the chart holds up.

Why is horror doing so well right now?

Plainly put, the genre is on a run and the calendar is helping. According to Variety, major openings such as Obsession, Backrooms and Resident Evil have kept the horror wave rolling through 2026. With Halloween right around the corner, a supernatural thriller fits the season, and Friday’s numbers suggest audiences are still showing up.

The story comes from Josh Malerman’s 2024 novel Incidents Around the House. A paranormal entity takes on the appearance of a young girl’s mother and begins haunting the family home. Chastain plays Ursula, the real mom, and also the title creature, which looks identical to her. Jay Duplass plays Ursula’s husband Russell, and Arabella Olivia Clark plays their daughter Bela. Dichen Lachman, Arian Moayed, Karen Allen and Sean Kaufman also appear in the cast.

The other big debut of the weekend has had a rockier road. Variety reports that Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning landed in fourth place on Friday with $2.15 million from 2,606 North American theaters. The outlet expects the film to make about $6 million domestically through the weekend.

Expectations for the film are tied to its predecessor. The Social Network, the 2010 movie that Sorkin also wrote, grossed $224 million globally and went on to win four Oscars. Reviews of the new film have been mixed since its premiere earlier this week.

“a diverting-enough, clever-enough, true-enough examination,” Variety’s Guy Lodge wrote of The Social Reckoning in his review.

The new film follows Facebook’s 2021 leak by whistleblower Frances Haugen, played by Mikey Madison. Jeremy Strong plays Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeremy Allen White plays Jeff Horwitz, the Wall Street Journal reporter who worked through thousands of pages of internal documents. Variety notes that his work culminated in reporting that won a Pulitzer Prize, titled The Facebook Files. Bill Burr, Betty Gilpin and Billy Magnussen also star.

The rest of the top five stayed busy. Amazon MGM’s psycho-thriller Verity placed second with $4 million on Friday. Adapted from Colleen Hoover’s bestselling book and starring Anne Hathaway, Josh Hartnett and Dakota Johnson, the film is projected to add $14.2 million by Sunday, bringing its domestic total to $56.6 million.

Resident Evil, from Columbia Pictures, pulled in another $2.32 million on Friday for third place. Variety says the zombie horror is targeting $8.2 million for the weekend, which would lift its cumulative domestic gross to $138.37 million. Zach Cregger directed the film, in which Austin Abrams plays a medical courier facing a zombie outbreak while making a delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital.

In fifth, Paramount Pictures’ The Heart of the Beast grossed $1.96 million on Friday. Variety projects another $6.91 million by Sunday, bringing its cumulative gross to $49.47 million. Brad Pitt leads the adventure film, directed by David Ayer, as a retired veteran who treks 58 miles to safety with his combat dog after a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness.

What comes next is the Sunday count. Until the weekend closes, these are Friday results and Variety’s projections, and the final standings will settle once the full totals are in.

Quick answers

How much did Other Mommy earn on Friday?
According to Variety, Other Mommy took in $12.6 million from 3,365 North American theaters on Friday. The outlet projects it will add $28 million by Sunday.

How much did The Social Reckoning make on Friday?
Variety reports that The Social Reckoning earned $2.15 million from 2,606 North American theaters on Friday, placing it fourth. The outlet expects about $6 million domestically through the weekend.

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Source: Variety