Horror at the Box Office: ‘Weapons’ Blasts Back to the Top, ‘Jaws’ Sinks Its Teeth Into Theaters
After being knocked to second place last weekend, the runaway smash hit Weapons shot back to the top, claiming a third weekend as the #1 movie at the domestic box office. It joins Sinners as the only 2025 horror movies to achieve this feat.
Weapons rolled to an estimated $10.2 million, a decline of only about 33% from week 3. That was enough to beat out the competition, as the dog days of summer that I’ve mentioned previously hit full swing (or full slump), leaving theaters mostly empty.
Weapons has now grossed about $235 million worldwide on a $38 million budget. It’s hard to overstate what a phenomenal success this is, especially for an original horror film without any major celebrity superstar actors (sorry Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, I don’t think you’re quite there yet). I’m hoping this will lead to studios producing more innovative and original genre films in the future.
In a clever move, Universal re-released the legendary killer shark film Jaws (1975) for its 50th anniversary. Hitting theaters at the tail end of summer, the movie chomped on an estimated $8.1 million to land in second place. It says something for this film’s enduring appeal that it defeated numerous brand new films.
Positive reviews weren’t enough to ignite The Toxic Avenger at the box office. The reboot made only an estimated $1.7 million, landing in 11th place. This is the first Toxic Avenger movie in 25 years, and it doesn’t appear there was much demand for another installment.
Up Next
The spooky movie season commences as the calendar turns to September. The Conjuring: Last Rites haunts theaters beginning on September 5th. It’s followed by The Long Walk, a Stephen King adaption, on September 12th.
