Black Phone 2 Leads Global Box Office, Tron Crosses $100 Million
“Black Phone 2,” a sequel to Universal and Blumhouse’s 2022 hit slasher film, scared up $42 million at the global box office in its first weekend of release.
Those ticket sales included a softer $15.5 million from 71 international territories as well as a leading $26.5 million in the United States and Canada. Top overseas openings were Mexico with $4.3 million, the United Kingdom and Ireland with $1.4 million and Brazil with $1.2 million.
Directed by Scott Derrickson, “The Black Phone 2” follows the return of the deranged serial killer known as the Grabber (Ethan Hawke). Initial ticket sales for the second film were slightly ahead of its predecessor, which launched to $13 million overseas and $35.8 million worldwide in 2022. The first “Black Phone,” which cost $18 million, became a sleeper hit with $161 million globally. The sequel, which carries a larger $30 million price tag, shouldn’t have trouble justifying its budget. However, it needs to stick around on the big screen beyond opening weekend to count as a major comeback for Blumhouse. The horror empire has struggled in 2025 with a string of flops, including “Wolf Man” and “M3GAN 2.0.” Another sequel, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” is scheduled for December.
“Black Phone 2” was this weekend’s only major newcomer at the international box office. Elsewhere, Disney’s sci-fi sequel “Tron: Ares” earned $14.1 million from 52 markets, declining about 50% from its debut. So far, the film has grossed $48.4 million overseas and $103 million globally after two weekends of release. That’s a decent tally, especially for a franchise in its fifth decade — except that Disney spent $180 million to produce and many millions to promote the sequel, so “Tron: Ares” is shaping up to become a major money loser for the studio.
Another expensive film, Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio’s “One Battle After Another” added $11.8 million overseas, impressively down just 21% from the prior weekend. The Warner Bros. release has generated $100 million internationally and $162.5 million globally. It’s an impressive result for the original, R-rated action comedy (one that’s likely to find itself in the awards race). However, it’s likely to end its theatrical run in the red for Warner Bros., which spent more than $130 million on production and $70 million on promotional efforts.
