Box office preview: Will ‘Speak No Evil’ keep ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ from its first place repeat?

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” may have given the fall movie season a serious jumpstart, but it’s not the only September release, as we are about to go into yet another busy weekend. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scott McNairy, and Aisling Franciosi (“The Last Voyage of the Demeter”) star in Universal Pictures and Blumhouse’s remake of the Danish horror film “Speak No Evil,” which received rave reviews when it premiered at Sundance and ended up streaming on Shudder. Directed by British filmmaker James Watkins (“The Woman in Black”), this remake looks pretty straight-forward with the same premise of a couple traveling to visit another couple they met on holiday, with the biggest difference being that the respective families are now American and British.

Being released after two horror movies bombed two weekends in a row, but Universal has been marketing the heck out of the movie with trailers in front of just about everything this past summer. McAvoy certainly has become more popular after starring in M. Night Shyamalan‘s “Split” (also for Blumhouse and Universal) and “Glass,” which ended up forming a trilogy with the filmmaker’s earlier “Unbreakable.” Davis is no stranger to genre, having starred in “Transformers: Dark Fate,” “Blade Runner 2049,” “Black Mirror” and the Jason Reitman–Diablo Cody thriller “Tully.”

The fact that the original movie has been on Shudder for a number of years may help get people interested in how the remake differs from the original movie, although one presumes this remake will be far more effective to those who haven’t seen the original movie.  As of this writing, the reviews are predominantly positive, which is often rare with remakes.

While it doesn’t feel like “Speak No Evil” might be a huge horror hit for Blumhouse ala “M3gan,” it should still do well enough thanks to McAvoy and its horrifying high-concept premise that some may be able to relate to. Because of that, expect the movie to open in second place to “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” with somewhere between $15 and $18 million.

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Also, Dave Bautista stars in the action-comedy “The Killer’s Game,” playing an assassin who finds out he’s dying, so he puts out a hit on himself, only to learn that the doctors made a mistake. The movie co-stars Sofia Boutella, Bautista’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” co-star Pom Klementieff, Lucy Cork, Scott Adkins, Terry Crews and Sir Ben Kingsley, and it’s directed by former stuntman J.J. Perry.

Although Bautista starred in James Gunn‘s “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies and Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune” movies, and he played a version of Jaws in the James Bond movie “Spectre,” the former wrestler hasn’t necessarily proven himself as a solo box office draw. His 2019 comedy “Stuber” with Kumail Nanjiani bombed, and then the family action-comedy “My Spy” ended up on Prime Video (as did its sequel). Because of these things, it’s hard to determine whether Bautista leading an action movie, rather than playing a supporting role, could get people into theaters. This one looks more like a draw for guys than women, though there is a romance angle that Lionsgate is pushing hard in the latest marketing.

As much as this looks like it has a fun premise, it might have a tough time opening against week two of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Speak No Evil,” so it will probably end up under $10 million for the weekend, barring great reviews or buzz that just doesn’t seem to be evident right now.

This weekend, we also get an Anime release that’s NOT from Crunchyroll – the Anime mainstay is releasing “The Coscierge” for one night only on Wednesday – but from GKIDS, who had a massive hit with Hayao Miyazaki‘s Oscar-winning “The Boy and the Heron” last year. Now, they release “DAN DA DAN: First Encounter,” which is essentially the first three episodes of an Anime series based on a hugely popular Manga by Yukinobu Tatsu. The first three dubbed episodes already aired at Anime NYC in August, but this theatrical release will be the first time most American Anime fans will have a chance to see it before the series debuts streaming on Crunchyroll in October. That should help it make $4 to $5 million this weekend, despite it only playing one or two times per day at most theaters.

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Since conservative Americans need movies to watch, too, there are a couple of odd choices, including Justin Folk and Matt Walsh‘s “Am I Racist?” which takes on diversity, equity and inclusion practices, while “God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust” is the latest in that series, released on Thursday through Fathom Events, but then continuing through the weekend. Both movies are in an unknown number of theaters, but only the first of these could crack the top 10 with $2 to $3 million, depending on its theater count. (The duo’s previous movie, the controversial 2023 film “What Is a Woman?” received 170 million views on Elon Musk‘s X in less than a week.)

On Thursday, Trafalgar Releasing is releasing the concert film “Usher: Rendezvous in Paris” into 2,000 theaters with essentially one screening a night through Sunday, which could be enough to get that into the top 10, as well.

As far as other limited releases, there’s Megan Park‘s “My Old Ass,” starring Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza and Percy Hynes White from “Wednesday,” a high-concept comedy in which Stella and Plaza play the same woman twenty years apart with Plaza’s character giving her younger self valuable life advice. It will open limited on Friday and then wide on September 27.

Kevin Smith returns with his ‘80s coming-of-age comedy “The 4:30 Movie” about 16-year-old Brian David (Austin Zajur) who asks his crush Melody (Siena Agudong) to go see a movie, only for all sorts of horrible things getting in their way. This is getting a limited release from Saban Films, but with Ken Jeong as the most prominent cast member who isn’t just making a cameo (ala Rosario Dawson and Justin Long), it’s hard to imagine it doing very well outside Smith’s diehard fanbase.

Sir Ian McKellen and Gemma Arterton star in Anand Tucker‘s period drama “The Critic,” set in 1930’s London with Sir Ian playing a theater critic who sets his snarky sights on the stage actress played by Arterton.

Lastly, Netflix is releasing the doc “Will & Harper” about a road trip that Will Ferrell took across the country with his friend and former “SNL” head writer Harper Steele after she comes out as trans. It will play in select theaters this weekend ahead of its streaming debut.

Check back on Sunday to see whether any of the movies above can do well against the second weekend of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which will be an easy and clear winner this weekend.

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