The Other Mommy box office debut reached $27.5 million this weekend, according to Variety, enough to lead North American ticket sales. The Universal and Blumhouse horror film stars Jessica Chastain as a sinister paranormal entity that takes the form of a young girl’s mother. It beat Sony’s Aaron Sorkin-written drama The Social Reckoning, which landed in fifth place with $5.5 million.

The film opened above expectations even though it scored 19% on Rotten Tomatoes and earned a D+ CinemaScore from exit polls. Those marks are a warning sign for staying power, yet the picture is financially well placed against an $18 million budget. Its overseas haul was $17.69 million, lifting the global total to $45.19 million.

Why did a badly reviewed horror movie still win?

Analyst David A. Gross expects the film’s business to fall off quickly from here, a sharp reversal from its opening.

“Horror movies are generally immune to a negative reception, but this is extreme,” says analyst David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe.

The Social Reckoning has a similar word-of-mouth problem, and its launch was weak from the start. The R-rated film, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, had been projected to open between $7 million and $8 million. It came in well below that, and far below the $22 million that 2010’s The Social Network earned in its own debut, not adjusted for inflation. Overseas it added $3.5 million from 29 markets, a $9 million worldwide start.

The new film follows a Facebook engineer, played by Mikey Madison, who leaks internal documents to a reporter played by Jeremy Allen White. It holds a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B- on CinemaScore, and ticket buyers were mostly older men, a group slow to return to theaters since the pandemic.

How does it compare to The Social Network?

The Social Network is widely considered one of the best films of the 2010s. That David Fincher film, written by Sorkin, won four Oscars and earned $224 million worldwide. Fincher and the original’s star did not return for the follow-up, and Sony has framed the new title as a companion piece rather than a sequel.

Sony also cut spending, with The Social Reckoning carrying a $30 million price tag against $40 million for the original.

Gross argues that TV has become the natural home for stories about corporate intrigue, and that such films lack the cinematic pull that fills theaters. He adds that the production cost was reasonable, but it is still a lot to recoup at these box office levels.

According to Variety, Tom Cruise’s satire Digger fell 60% in its second weekend, to $3.2 million from 3,321 theaters, after an $8 million debut. It has reached $14 million domestically and $35.3 million globally. Warner Bros. spent more than $160 million on the film, which is projected to lose $245 million theatrically. Stars including Anne Hathaway, Jane Fonda, Guillermo del Toro and Mandy Patinkin have praised it publicly and urged fans to see it, but that has not helped at the box office.

Amazon MGM’s Verity took second with $11.4 million from 3,572 theaters, a 64% drop from its opening weekend. The film has reached $113 million worldwide against a $40 million budget. Resident Evil dropped to third with $8.3 million in its fourth weekend, and Paramount’s Brad Pitt-led Heart of the Beast came in fourth with $7.1 million.

October has run slower than September, which was stronger than expected. Revenues are still 23% ahead of the same point in 2025, a year that ended as the weakest October in three decades, and 8% behind 2019. Domestic revenues have topped $8 billion according to Rentrak, a milestone the industry did not hit last year until December.

Upcoming releases such as Street Fighter, Whalefall and Clayface are aiming to lift attendance this spooky month. Holiday titles including Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part III are next, and the year is expected to be the biggest post-pandemic one at the box office.

Quick answers

How much did Other Mommy earn in its box office debut?
Other Mommy earned $27.5 million in its box office debut, leading North American ticket sales over the weekend, according to Variety.

How much did The Social Reckoning open to?
The Social Reckoning landed in fifth place with $5.5 million, below its projected opening of $7 million to $8 million.

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Source: Variety