Other Mommy Box Office Opening Weekend: $27.5M Win, Social Reckoning Flops
October 12, 2026 — Hollywood's mid-October frame delivered the weekend's loudest verdict before a single review could be rewritten: the Other Mommy box office opening weekend roared to an estimated $27.5 million in North America, seizing the No. 1 spot despite some of the worst reviews of the year, while Aaron Sorkin's prestige follow-up The Social Reckoning collapsed to a mere $5.5 million. Industry estimates released Sunday showed horror's 2026 dominance hitting a new peak — Other Mommy is the sixth horror or horror-comedy to open at No. 1 domestically this year — even as the weekend's overall $85 million haul kept the year-to-date box office running nearly 20 percent ahead of 2025. Here is the full breakdown of who won, who flopped, and what it says about audiences right now.
Other Mommy box office opening weekend: $27.5 million defies the critics
The numbers for Jessica Chastain's horror vehicle need no spin. Other Mommy earned an estimated $27.5 million domestically across 3,365 locations, plus roughly $17.7 million from international markets, for a worldwide launch of about $45.2 million — all figures are trade-tracker (Rentrak) estimates, not studio-official numbers. Against an estimated production budget of just $18–19 million, the film turned a profit from its domestic run alone.
The twist: almost everyone expected it to fail. The campy horror film — directed by Rob Savage (Host), written by Nathan Elston, and based on Josh Malerman's novel Incidents Around the House — was savaged by critics before release and slapped with a D+ CinemaScore, reportedly the lowest audience-poll grade since Coppola's Megalopolis two years ago. Chastain plays a mother in a dual role that includes a sinister doppelganger terrorising her daughter, played by Arabella Olivia Clark. Poor audience scores usually trigger brutal second-weekend drops, and analysts warn this one will fall sharply with Halloween horror competition piling up.
Why it matters: this is horror's commercial immunity on full display. The genre is having a historically profitable year, and Other Mommy continues the streak — but the D+ CinemaScore is the warning light. A front-loaded opening that pleases nobody can still mint money on a $19 million budget; on a $100 million one, it would be a funeral. Hollywood's lesson, once again: keep the budgets low and the scares high.
The Social Reckoning box office: Aaron Sorkin's $5.5 million disaster
If Other Mommy was the weekend's shock, The Social Reckoning was its autopsy. Aaron Sorkin's sequel to 2010's The Social Network — the film that opened to $22.6 million and collected Academy Awards — managed only $5.5 million domestically on a reported ~$30 million budget, finishing fifth. Its international run added just $3.5 million, for a worldwide opening of roughly $9 million. That is less than a third of its predecessor's debut, and a fraction of its own production cost.
The film dramatises the Facebook whistleblower saga: trade reports name Oscar winner Mikey Madison as former employee Frances Haugen and Jeremy Allen White as the reporter, while EW reports Jeremy Strong stepping into the Zuckerberg role previously played by Jesse Eisenberg. Sony, Columbia and Alcon backed the release. Critics largely preferred Luca Guadagnino's rival tech exposé Artificial, and audiences simply stayed home.
Why it matters: The Social Reckoning's failure sharpens the industry's central divide. Two of the year's worst-reviewed films opened this weekend; the horror one printed money, the drama one bled out. Prestige alone no longer opens a movie — genre and marketing muscle do.
Verity, Resident Evil and Digger: the rest of the top 10
Behind the two headliners, the chart told its own stories. Amazon MGM's erotic thriller Verity, the Colleen Hoover adaptation starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, fell to $11.5 million in its second weekend — a steep 64 percent drop, with a soft C+ CinemaScore suggesting last weekend's $35 million opening was heavily front-loaded by the book's fanbase. Zach Cregger's Resident Evil held third at about $8.4 million; its $138.5 million domestic total and $181 million overseas put the zombie flick near $320 million worldwide, making it one of the year's genuine genre hits.
Heart of the Beast — Paramount's Brad Pitt survival story of a former soldier and his traumatised combat dog in the Alaskan wilderness — took fourth with $7.1 million. And Digger, Tom Cruise's epic, is now officially a bomb of the first order: down about 60–64 percent to just $3.2 million in its second weekend, it stands at roughly $35.3 million worldwide against a $125–180 million budget.
Rounding out the top 10: Universal/DreamWorks' animated Forgotten Island ($4.5 million), A24's Robert Pattinson exposé Primetime ($4 million — impressive holding power for Lance Oppenheim's $15 million To Catch a Predator drama, which opened at $19.2 million), Angel and the Badman ($2.1 million) and The Odyssey ($2 million).
2026's horror takeover: why the genre owns the box office
Step back from the weekend and the pattern is unmistakable. The 2026 domestic box office crossed $8 billion this weekend — 59 days earlier than in 2025 — and sits at an estimated $8.07 billion, up 19.6 percent year on year, with a record $4.77 billion summer already banked. Horror has powered an outsized share of it: the genre has generated roughly $1.28 billion domestically, about 90 percent of last year's record $1.426 billion, with 81 days still to go in 2026.
Rentrak's Paul Dergarabedian notes Other Mommy is the sixth horror or horror-comedy to debut at No. 1 domestically this year, joining Send Help, Scream 7, Backrooms, Scary Movie and Resident Evil. And the profitability stories are staggering: this year's Obsession was made for less than a million dollars and grossed $263.4 million domestically; Backrooms cost $10 million and earned $197.5 million. The economics explain the marketing on the Other Mommy poster itself — "from Blumhouse, executive producer of Obsession" and "James Wan, producer of Backrooms" — because in 2026, horror pedigree is the closest thing Hollywood has to a bankable star.
Why it matters: every studio greenlight meeting for the next two years will start from this weekend. Low budgets, recognisable horror hooks, and marketing that sells the experience over the reviews — that is the formula printing money while $30 million dramas die on arrival.
What comes next: Crawlers, Clayface and the Halloween runway
Other Mommy's reign will be short. Three challengers arrive next weekend: Paramount's Street Fighter martial-arts actioner with Noah Centineo and Jason Momoa, Focus Features' glowingly reviewed Sense & Sensibility Jane Austen adaptation, and Nathan Fielder's You Can See Everything, a provocative look at fraudster Elizabeth Holmes' final free days before incarceration. Given how fast poorly reviewed horror films drop, one of them is likely to dethrone Chastain.
The Halloween runway is pure horror: Crawlers opens October 16, DC Studios' Batman-villain title Clayface follows on October 23, Christmas at the Kringles lands October 30, Victorian Psycho on November 13, and Werwulf on Christmas Day. With the genre just $150 million shy of last year's domestic record, 2026's horror year could still break it. The Social Reckoning's corpse and Other Mommy's crown make the same point: right now, fear sells and everything else is negotiable.
This weekend's North American box office scorecard
| Rank | Film | Weekend (est.) | Worldwide / status | Studio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Other Mommy | $27.5M | $45.2M opening on ~$18–19M budget — profitable already | Universal / Blumhouse |
| 2 | Verity | $11.5M | 64% second-weekend drop; C+ CinemaScore | Amazon MGM |
| 3 | Resident Evil | $8.4M | ~$320M worldwide; genre hit of the year | Sony |
| 4 | Heart of the Beast | $7.1M | Brad Pitt survival drama holds | Paramount |
| 5 | The Social Reckoning | $5.5M | ~$9M worldwide on ~$30M budget — flop | Sony / Columbia / Alcon |
| 6 | Forgotten Island | $4.5M | Third weekend for the animated title | Universal / DreamWorks |
| 7 | Primetime | $4.0M | Strong hold on $15M budget; opened $19.2M | A24 |
| 8 | Digger | $3.2M | $35.3M global on $125–180M budget — bomb | Warner Bros. / Legendary |
| 9 | Angel and the Badman | $2.1M | Limited rollout | — |
| 10 | The Odyssey | $2.0M | Limited rollout | — |
Related coverage on Showbiz Daily
- Hollywood News: Verity's $35 million opening and Digger's stumble — how last weekend set up this one
- Hollywood's wild weekend: Verity tops, Digger crashes and Tobey Maguire's divorce is finalised
- The Exorcist: Martyrs trailer and release date, plus our preview of Other Mommy and The Social Reckoning before they opened
- Upcoming Hollywood movies October to December 2026: release dates for Street Fighter, Clayface, Dune Part Three and more
- New Hollywood movies released in September 2026: Resident Evil and the other box office winners and losers
Next weekend's head-to-head is already set: read our Clayface opening weekend box office report.
FAQs
How much did Other Mommy make on its opening weekend?
Other Mommy made an estimated $27.5 million domestically on its opening weekend, topping the North American box office, with about $17.7 million internationally for a worldwide launch of roughly $45.2 million. All figures are trade-tracker estimates.
Is The Social Reckoning a flop?
Yes. The Social Reckoning opened to just $5.5 million domestically and about $9 million worldwide against an estimated $30 million production budget — less than a third of what its predecessor The Social Network earned on opening weekend in 2010. It finished fifth in its debut frame.
Why did Other Mommy succeed despite bad reviews?
Horror audiences are largely review-proof: critics savaged the film and it earned a D+ CinemaScore, yet its $27.5 million opening worked because it cost only $18–19 million to make, was marketed as a Blumhouse horror event, and opened with no direct competition. Horror films are historically immune to negative reception on opening weekend.
What was Verity's second-weekend box office collection?
Verity collected about $11.5 million in its second weekend, a steep 64 percent drop from its roughly $35 million opening. The Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson thriller earned a C+ CinemaScore, suggesting its Colleen Hoover fanbase turned out heavily in week one.
What movies are releasing next weekend after Other Mommy?
Next weekend brings Paramount's Street Fighter starring Noah Centineo and Jason Momoa, Focus Features' Jane Austen adaptation Sense & Sensibility, and Nathan Fielder's You Can See Everything about Elizabeth Holmes. The Halloween horror runway then continues with Crawlers (October 16) and Clayface (October 23).
How much has the 2026 box office made so far?
The 2026 domestic box office has reached an estimated $8.07 billion, up 19.6 percent from the same point in 2025, crossing $8 billion 59 days earlier than last year. Horror alone has generated about $1.28 billion domestically, close to 2025's record $1.426 billion with 81 days left in the year.