The horror film ‘The Other Mother’ topped the box office in the United States and Canada after taking 27.5 million dollars over its opening weekend, exceeding Universal Pictures’ forecasts despite the negative reception from critics and audiences. By contrast, ‘The Social Account’, which brings Aaron Sorkin back to the world of Facebook, opened with modest takings of 5.5 million dollars, placing it in fifth position.
‘The Other Mother’ takings exceed Universal’s expectations
Rob Savage directed the film, which had an estimated production budget of about 19 million dollars. Its opening gives it a strong commercial position compared with the reported production cost, but does not establish its profitability because the budget excludes marketing expenses and ticket revenue does not all go to the production company.
‘The Other Mother’ follows a supernatural being that appears to a young girl inside her wardrobe. She believes it is her mother before its presence becomes a source of terror. Universal attributed some of the interest in the film to its trailer, which was shown before ‘The Odyssey’ and, according to the company, helped arouse audience curiosity.
Weak reviews do not prevent strong audience turnout
The commercial response came despite the film receiving a ‘D+’ rating in a CinemaScore survey, which records audience reactions after films are watched in cinemas. Positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes accounted for 19% among critics and 46% among audiences when the figures were published. These percentages represent the share of positive reviews, not direct scores for the film’s quality.
Universal’s president of domestic distribution, Jim Orr, said the audience for ‘The Other Mother’ was divided fairly evenly between men and women, with about two-thirds of viewers aged between 18 and 34. Orr said the film’s ability to reach different audience groups was a positive sign for its commercial prospects.
‘The Social Account’ opens below Sony’s expectations
‘The Social Account’, meanwhile, took 5.5 million dollars from 2,606 cinemas, compared with Sony Pictures’ expectation of about 7 million dollars. The film had a production budget of roughly 30 million dollars, excluding marketing and promotional costs, making its opening weaker than previously estimated.
Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed the film, which centres on a Facebook employee played by Mikey Madison who works with a Wall Street Journal reporter, played by Jeremy Allen White, to uncover documents and information implicating the company. Jeremy Strong plays Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at a later stage in his life. The new film takes a different approach from ‘The Social Network’, which examined Facebook’s early creation and the conflicts between its founders.
Sorkin wrote the screenplay for that film, while David Fincher directed it and Jesse Eisenberg played Zuckerberg, before Sorkin combined writing and directing duties on ‘The Social Account’. ‘The Social Network’ opened in October 2010 with takings of 22.4 million dollars and topped the box office at the time.
Its worldwide takings later reached about 224 million dollars. It also received eight Oscar nominations and won three awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Sorkin. ‘The Social Account’ received a ‘B-’ rating from CinemaScore audiences, while positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes stood at 54% among critics and 71% among audiences.
Debate over the appeal of technology films to cinema||||beforeBlockId":"block-12","headingKind":"DETAILS","headingText":"Entertainment films
These results reflect a mixed response to the new film, unlike the widespread praise received by ‘The Social Network’ on its release. Paul Dergarabedian, head of market trends at Run Trak, said films dealing with current issues could either resonate with audiences or fail to reach them.
He added that production companies cannot always predict which subjects will actually persuade viewers to buy cinema tickets. Box-office analyst David Gross, publisher of the Franchise Re newsletter, said works about technology figures and companies might find a more suitable audience on streaming platforms.
He said a film’s success in cinemas also depends on offering a visual or emotional experience that persuades viewers to leave home, opening a discussion about the cinematic appeal of these subjects. Elsewhere in the box-office rankings, the psychological thriller ‘Verity’ came second with 11.5 million dollars, despite a drop of about 64% from its opening weekend.
It stars Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, and is based on a novel by Colleen Hoover about a writer who accepts a job writing for another author before becoming entangled in the woman’s secrets. ‘Resident Evil’ came third after adding 8.4 million dollars, taking its United States and Canada total to about 138.5 million dollars.
Its worldwide total reached 320.2 million dollars, making it the highest-grossing film in the film series adapted from video games. The new version was directed by Zach Cregger and stars Austin Abrams. ‘Heart of the Beast’ came fourth with 7.1 million dollars, taking its domestic total to 49.6 million dollars in its third week of release.
The film was directed by David Ayer, with Brad Pitt playing a special forces officer trying to survive in the wilderness alongside a dog trained for military work. Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ returned to the top 10 during its 13th week of release after taking 2 million dollars as it was re-released at 12 locations in IMAX and on 70mm film.
Its North American takings approached 623 million dollars. In limited release, Alex Gibney’s documentary ‘Musk’ took 68.9 thousand dollars from four cinemas, averaging 17,225 dollars per cinema. The film, about businessman Elon Musk, runs for nearly four hours.
‘Misty Green’, directed by Chris Rock, also took 85.7 thousand dollars from six venues. ‘Misty Green’ stars Rosalind Eleazar, Adam Driver and Daniel Kaluuya, and follows an actress whose profile is waning as she attempts to revive her career. ‘Fiord’, winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, took 124 thousand dollars from four screens.
Cinema takings in the United States and Canada reached about 8.077 billion dollars from the start of the year through Sunday, up 19.6% from the same period in 2025, according to Run Trak data.
Even so, the total remained about 8% below 2019 levels, reflecting the market’s continued recovery without yet returning to pre-pandemic levels.
