Over the weekend, Variety reported that Paramount’s Smile topped the domestic box office with $22 million. The horror film documenting a frown that’s been turned upside down was released on September 30, attracting an audience that was 52% male, while the bulk of ticket buyers, which was about 68%, ranged in age from 18 to 34. It also has the distinction of beating out the other new wide release last weekend. Universal’s LGBTQ+ romantic comedy Bros, which landed in fourth place with $4.8 million.Sosie Bacon, the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, starred in the film as a therapist who becomes haunted by these horrifying, smiling hallucinations after she witnesses one of her patients commit suicide in front of her. She eventually comes to learn that she’s only the latest to experience this phenomenon and that it’s often fatal. The horror film’s other cast members included Kyle Gallner, Kal Penn, Jessie T. Usher, Caitlin Stasey, Rob Morgan, and Robin Weigert.

“It’s honestly sensational. I don’t like to use hyperbole, but this exceeded our wildest expectations,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s distribution chief.

Smile cost the studio $17 million to make and was initially intended to be a streaming release. Paramount opted to give the film a full theatrical rollout after it scored well with audiences during test screenings. It has now joined six of the studio’s last seven films that have opened in first place, which included such box office winners as Top Gun: Maverick, The Lost City, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. A Smile sequel is being discussed.

A Scary Good Opening Week

One of the marketing tactics employed by the studio was strategically placing paid actors with huge, disturbing smiles on their faces behind home plate during televised Major League Baseball games. The locations were scattered from New York to Oakland, such as at the Marlins vs. Mets game. Something that social media users quickly noticed was the unsettling fans who wore Smile t-shirts when the camera zoomed in on batters stepping up to the plate.

“We’ve been very careful in our release dates and we’ve been very strong in our campaigns,” said Aronson.

The October release date might have been a factor in Smile’s box office success. It ranks as one of the better original horror openings of the year, beating out 20th Century Studios Barbarian ($10 million) and Sony’s The Invitation ($7 million). It may be interesting to see how well Terrifier 2 and Halloween Ends, two upcoming franchise films that both have dedicated fanbases, does at the box office in comparison.

Don’t Worry Darling, the box office champion two weekends ago, fell sharply by 62% during its second weekend. The Warner Bros. thriller that’s had multiple rumors swirling around it earned $7.3 million for a second-place finish, bringing its domestic total to $32.8 million. Sony’s The Woman King finished third with $7 million, which pushed its stateside haul to $46.7 million. Disney’s re-release of James Cameron’s Avatar rounded out the top five, earning $4.7 million.