Samwise Film & TV Marketing Newsletter
Sunday, October 18, 2026
Street Fighter Opens to $31 Million, Below Paramount’s Expectations
Paramount and Legendary’s Street Fighter is opening to about $31 million from 3,575 North American theaters after a $13 million Friday that included Thursday previews, according to Deadline. The Hollywood Reporter says Paramount had been expecting a debut in the mid-$30 millions for the $82 million-budgeted Capcom adaptation, the first release in its distribution deal with Legendary. Deadline reports the opening is 19% below Mortal Kombat 2’s $38.5 million start. Audiences gave the film a B- CinemaScore, and men over 35 made up 45% of the crowd. Premium large format and Imax screens accounted for 58% of the weekend.
Sources: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter
A24’s Holmes Documentary Heads for Second-Best Documentary Opening Ever
A24’s You Can See Everything, the Elizabeth Holmes documentary directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, is charting the second-best opening ever for a documentary with $12 million to $14 million from 855 screens, Deadline reports, behind only 2004’s Fahrenheit 9/11 at $23.9 million. Variety reports the film grossed $5.54 million on Friday, exceeding initial estimates of a $7 million to $8 million opening, and should overtake Melania’s $7.1 million launch. Deadline cites reports of about 1,300 sellouts and a 91% definite recommend on PostTrak, with moviegoers aged 18 to 34 making up 62% of the audience.
Selective Social Rollout Powers A24’s Holmes Documentary, RelishMix Says
RelishMix says A24 ran a very selective platform rollout for You Can See Everything, with an Instagram account of 13,000 fans and 42 million YouTube views from two videos, Deadline reports. The research firm put share-reposting at 61:1, which it called exceptional, and said overall awareness of 102 million is outpacing indie dramas by 40%. Co-director Nathan Fielder’s Instagram, at 1 million fans, fed another 30 million video views. Deadline reports the documentary cost less than $10 million to make, with a marketing budget also under $10 million, and 41% of moviegoers bought their tickets the day of.
Whalefall Sinks with $7.5 Million Opening Against $60 Million Cost
20th Century Studios’ Whalefall is opening to about $7.5 million from 3,065 theaters, Deadline reports, against a net production cost of $60 million. The Hollywood Reporter says the studio had projected $11 million for director Brian Duffield’s survival thriller, which stars Austin Abrams as a scuba diver swallowed by a sperm whale. Deadline says the film’s over-25 audience was drawn away by the Holmes documentary and Street Fighter, citing the overlap in male demographics. Audiences gave it a B CinemaScore, men made up 55% of ticket buyers, and premium large format screens represented 21% of the weekend gross.
Sources: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter
Sense and Sensibility Opens to $6.7 Million with Heavily Female Audience
Focus Features’ Sense and Sensibility is opening to $6.7 million from 2,545 theaters, according to Deadline, after Variety reported a $3.3 million Friday that placed it third for the day. Deadline puts the cost at $20 million before prints and advertising, while The Hollywood Reporter says the budget is in the mid-$20 millions. Director Georgia Oakley’s adaptation stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and drew an audience that was 84% female, per Deadline, with an A- CinemaScore and a 71% overall definite recommend. Deadline compares it with Focus’ Conclave, which opened to $6.6 million and passed $32 million domestic.
La Bola Negra Eyes $68,800 Per-Screen Average as Netflix Starts Reporting Grosses
Netflix’s four-theater New York and Los Angeles launch of Cannes winner La Bola Negra is estimated by rivals at $68,800 per screen, Deadline reports, the third-best opening average for a limited release this year. The three-day gross is estimated around $275,000, with Netflix set to announce official results on Sunday. The Hollywood Reporter says the title marks the first time the streamer will publicly release box office returns. Deadline reports Netflix picked up the film for around $5 million out of Cannes and is very serious about making it its leading awards contender this season. Its first grossing title, 2015’s Beasts of No Nation, opened to $51,000.
Sources: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter
Box Office Top 20 — Weekend of October 16–18, 2026
Friday, October 16 daily grosses and totals through Friday from Box Office Mojo. Three-day weekend estimates for the top 11 from Deadline’s Saturday update; final weekend figures arrive Sunday.
| # | Title | Released | Friday | 3-Day Est. | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Street Fighter Paramount | Oct 16 | $13,000,000 | $31M | $13,000,000 |
| 2 | You Can See Everything A24 | Oct 16 | $5,543,820 | $12M–$14M | $5,543,820 |
| 3 | Sense and Sensibility Focus Features | Oct 16 | $3,310,000 | $6.7M | $3,310,000 |
| 4 | Whalefall 20th Century Studios | Oct 16 | $3,000,000 | $7.5M | $3,000,000 |
| 5 | Other Mommy Universal | Oct 9 | $2,560,000 | $7.85M | $39,064,440 |
| 6 | Verity Amazon MGM | Oct 2 | $2,088,000 | $6.5M | $61,968,402 |
| 7 | Resident Evil Columbia | Sep 18 | $1,600,000 | $5.5M | $144,557,955 |
| 8 | Heart of the Beast Paramount | Sep 25 | $1,450,000 | $5.1M | $54,938,451 |
| 9 | Jailer 2 — | Oct 15 | $890,000 | $2.4M | $890,000 |
| 10 | The Devils (re-release) Warner Bros. | Oct 16 | $750,000 | $1.64M | $750,000 |
| 11 | Forgotten Island DreamWorks | Sep 25 | $600,000 | $2.3M | $33,457,265 |
| 12 | Primetime A24 | Sep 25 | $525,262 | — | $44,188,108 |
| 13 | The Social Reckoning Sony | Oct 9 | $450,000 | — | $7,182,057 |
| 14 | Crawlers Roadside Attractions | Oct 16 | $266,555 | — | $266,555 |
| 15 | Digger Warner Bros. | Oct 2 | $265,000 | — | $16,586,958 |
| 16 | Spider-Man: Brand New Day Sony | Jul 31 | $180,000 | — | $957,770,528 |
| 17 | Angel and the Badman Angel | Oct 9 | $153,491 | — | $3,304,286 |
| 18 | The Odyssey Universal | Jul 17 | $140,000 | — | $624,488,825 |
| 19 | Musk Bleecker Street | Oct 9 | $121,393 | — | $209,603 |
| 20 | Flywheel: Ignition of the Soul Sony | Oct 16 | $67,000 | — | $67,000 |
Sources: Box Office Mojo, Deadline
Every newsletter preserved and searchable
Curated by JD · samwise.agency