'Regretting You' tops slow N. American box office

The movie exhibition business is closing out one of its slowest Octobers in over 25 years with a sluggish Halloween weekend. Studios avoided opening any major new films with the holiday falling on a Friday. Instead, there were several re-releases, including “Back to the Future,” which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and the Netflix phenomenon “KPop Demon Hunters.”

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But even with a top 10 in which no films earned more than $10 million, there was still a bit of excitement as two studios claimed the No.1 spot Sunday. Universal’s horror sequel “Black Phone 2” was largely expected to top the charts in its third weekend in theaters, and the studio reported that it was going to be in first place with an estimated $8 million. About 30 minutes later, Paramount reported that its romantic drama “Regretting You” had earned an estimated $8.1 million, which would place it in the top spot instead. Box office tracker Comscore went by the numbers and gave the first place title to “Regretting You.” Sunday numbers are based on estimates and projections, however, and sometimes Monday actuals tell a different story.

“Regretting You” is the latest Colleen Hoover adaptation to open in theaters since “It Ends With Us” became a runaway hit in theaters. With a running domestic total of $27.5 million, this newest film is not going to match its predecessor, which made $50 million in its first weekend.