After a very slow October, the box office reignited with the beginning of November.

That was mainly due to Predator: Badlands, which posted the best ever debut in the franchise, showing that this IP still has a lot of life at the box office. The rest of the newcomers, however, were a mixed bag. Sarah's Oil had a very middling debut, although Nuremberg over-performed projections.

The real losers, though, were Die My Love and Christy. The former had one of the worst ever debuts for Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, while the latter had one of the worst starts in 2,000 theaters.

The Top 10 earned a combined $74.9 million this weekend. That's up 20.7% from last year, when Venom: The Last Dance topped the box office for a third week.

Debuting at #1, Predator: Badlands opened with a great $40 million in 3,725 theaters. That's easily the best debut in the franchise, even dethroning Alien vs. Predator ($38 million). This debut is also very close to Alien: Romulus ($42 million) last year.

Even though Prey and Killer of Killers were sent to streaming, Disney had enough confidence in the film that they enlisted Dan Trachtenberg to return as director and giving it a theatrical release. To separate itself from the previous installments, the film went on a bigger scale, positioning the Predator to fight large monsters. And despite casting Elle Fanning as co-lead, it was clear that humans were not the focus of the film.

A few weeks prior, it was revealed that the film would be rated PG-13, the first film in the franchise (excluding AvP) to get it. That led to some disappointment from fans, but the rating did not fundamentally impact the film in a negative way. The rating was mainly because the level of violence wasn't aimed at humans, so the MPAA was a bit lenient in that way. And despite the rating, it still had the reception to justify it; it's sitting at 85% on RT and 71 on Metacritic, which convinced everyone that this is the theatrical Predator film they were waiting for.

According to 20th Century Studios, 61% of the audience was male. Despite the PG-13 rating, it didn't really benefit much from it; only 11% of the audience was 17 and under. They gave it a great "A–" on CinemaScore, the best ever in the franchise. Even with some competition on the way, the film should still hold around the same as Romulus. Which means it should be the franchise's first film to crack $100 million domestically.

Regretting You has kept the second place for the third week in a row. The film eased a very light 15%, adding $6.6 million. The film is clearly showing some damn great legs. The film has earned $38.1 million, and it should finish with over $50 million, which is much better than its early prospects.

In third place, Black Phone 2 eased just 38%, adding $5.1 million this weekend. The film has made $70 million, and it should finish with around $80 million domestically. Not a bad run at all.

In fourth place, Amazon MGM's Sarah's Oil debuted with a so-so $4.2 million in 2,410 theaters. It's a soft debut, but it's hard to ask for much better numbers here. On some good news, it scored a rare "A+" on CinemaScore, which bodes well for its legs.

Coming in over projections, Sony Pictures Classics' Nuremberg opened with a solid $3.8 million in 1,802 theaters. Its $2,155 per-theater average was also the second best in the Top 10, just behind Badlands. That's a very surprising result, considering that the film didn't have particularly great reviews (69% on RT, 61 on Metacritic) and both Russell Crowe and Rami Malek have struggled in the past few years. Not a bad start, especially compared to two other newcomers we're about to talk about…

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc is holding surprisingly well for an anime title. It dropped just 45%, for a $3.4 million weekend. The film's domestic total stands at $37.8 million.

Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia added $3.4 million this weekend. That represents a very light 32% drop, signaling some great word of mouth. Through its first 2 weeks in wide release, the film has amassed $12.2 million (Lanthimos' third highest grossing film) and could crack $20 million, assuming it continues holding well.

In eighth place, MUBI's Die My Love flopped with just $2.6 million in 1,983 theaters. In comparison, MUBI's buzzy title The Substance earned $3.2 million in 1,949 theaters last year. It's one of the worst ever wide debuts for both Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson.

A film like this was always going to be a tough sell; a film focusing on post-partum depression is not on many moviegoers' minds. Upon premiering in Cannes, MUBI bought the film for a record $24 million (far more than the $12.5 million they spent on acquiring The Substance), which guaranteed at least 1,500 theaters. But it seems like they over-estimated the appeal and its reception; the film is sitting at a 76% on RT, which is solid, but not particularly glowing for an adult drama. It just doesn't have the buzz that The Substance achieved. So even though MUBI tried an extensive marketing campaign by having many press junkets, the film just didn't attract any interest.

According to MUBI, 51% of the audience was male, and 78% was in the 18-34 demographic. They gave it a horrible "D+" on CinemaScore, signaling toxic word of mouth. Even though Lawrence has gained some buzz for her performance, it's very unlikely the film can last long with this reception. Especially when there's more Oscar contenders coming up. It would be a surprise if Die My Love made anything above $6 million domestically.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere dropped 44% and added $2.1 million this weekend. That took its domestic total to $20.3 million, and it will finish with around $25 million domestically.

Rounding out the Top 10 is Tron: Ares. It dropped 40%, grossing $1.8 million. The film has made a meager $71.2 million, and it only has around $5 million left in the gas tank.

Failing to crack the Top 10 was Black Bear's Christy, starring Sydney Sweeney, which flopped with an abysmal $1.3 million in 2,011 theaters. That's the 13th worst debut for a film playing in 2,000 theaters, and it gets to 11th if we exclude re-releases. That's an abysmal $652 per-theater average.

Despite Sweeney going on a press tour and extensively promoting it, the film just couldn't attract any interest. It was Black Bear's first distributed film, but that just proves the challenge of getting in the theatrical business. The film also lacked an interesting hook or subject matter; Christy Martin may not ring a bell to moviegoers, so they'll be less interested in checking out a biopic. Sweeney's presence has also been marred with controversies over the past months; while it's hard to say it negatively impacted it, it certainly didn't help it. The film's middling reviews (67% on RT) were the nail in the coffin.

Audiences gave Christy a middling "B+" on CinemaScore, which is not a sign of great word of mouth. With zero Oscar buzz, adult dramas coming on its way, and theaters absolutely dropping it with such a pitiful debut, Christy might struggle to hit $3 million domestically.

Let's cap it off with some great news. Neon released Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value in 4 theaters, and it debuted with a dazzling $200,031. That's a strong $50,008 per-theater average, which ranks sixth best of the year (fourth best with at least 2 theaters). The film will continue expanding over the next few weeks, hoping to capitalize on some Oscar buzz.

OVERSEAS

Predator: Badlands debuted with $39.2 million overseas, for a great $79.2 million worldwide debut. Like the domestic market, it was the best ever debut for the franchise. The best debuts were in China ($7.4M), UK ($3.2M), Mexico ($2.3M), France ($1.8M) and Japan ($1.7M). China did not over-perform massively like Romulus, but it wasn't expected to do that. From early signs, Predator: Badlands should easily hit $200 million worldwide, becoming the biggest film in the franchise.

Regretting You added $5.7 million overseas, taking its worldwide total to $70.5 million.

Black Phone 2 added $4 million overseas, for a $110 million worldwide total.

Bugonia seems to be showing some small power outside America. It added $3.6 million overseas, taking its worldwide total to $23 million. There's still lots of markets left.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEKEND

Movie Release Date Studio Domestic Opening Domestic Total Worldwide Total Budget Weapons Aug/8 Warner Bros. $43,501,217 $151,550,044 $268,042,500 $38M The Strangers: Chapter 2 Sep/26 Lionsgate $5,806,192 $15,153,346 $21,293,765 $8.5M After the Hunt Oct/10 Amazon MGM $1,529,394 $3,258,830 $7,093,629 $70M-$80M

Zach Cregger's Weapons has closed with a fantastic $151 million domestically and $268 million worldwide, far above its $38 million budget. A huge win for original films, and further cementing Cregger as a box office draw (after all, this was sold on his name). Thanks to an incredible marketing campaign, the film was buoyed by great word of mouth (an "A–" on CinemaScore, not an easy feat for a horror). Now let's see how his Resident Evil version does next September.

Bravo, Renny Harlin. It takes talent to make The Strangers: Chapter 2 fizzle out with just $21 million worldwide. A very underwhelming result, but it's hard to be surprised after the terrible reception to both Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. And there's still another film left to be released. The floor can get lower.

One of the year's biggest flops, Luca Guadagnino's After the Hunt has closed with a horrible $3.2 million domestically and $7 million worldwide. For some reason, this cost $70-$80 million, with $20 million going to star Julia Roberts. While the subject matter is challenging, the film's reception did not help it. Originally positioned as a possible Oscar contender, the film shocked many with its Venice premiere, where it earned weak reviews. All buzz went down, and the film vanished without a trace. It marked Guadagnino's latest box office disappointment, and he better hope that his next film fares much better.

THIS WEEK

It's a very busy week, with four films debuting in wide release.

The first is Paramount's The Running Man, the new film from Edgar Wright. Based on the novel by Stephen King, it stars Glen Powell as a man who takes part in a dangerous game show where he must survive 30 days to win money. The trailers have emphasized action and the big scale of the game, which is very important in a blockbuster. Will that be enough to top the box office?

There's also the release of Lionsgate's Now You See Me: Now You Don't, the third installment in the franchise. Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, and Morgan Freeman reprise their roles, and they're joined by Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, and Rosamund Pike. The franchise has been lucrative for Lionsgate; each film has made over $330 million worldwide. But the franchise halted 9 years ago, which is a long time to release a sequel. Will the audience still show up or they did just move on?

Neon is also releasing Osgood Perkins' new horror film Keeper, which stars Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland. Perkins is responsible for two of Neon's highest grossing films, Longlegs and The Monkey, so he's riding on some good will with the audience. With Black Phone 2 slowing down, could this be a main attraction for horror fans?

And finally, A24 is releasing Eternity, starring Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner. The film follows a woman who must choose between two men with whom to spend eternity in the afterlife. Reviews have been positive since its TIFF premiere (85% on RT), so perhaps it could surprise.