The North American box office is experiencing another strong weekend for horror, with supernatural thriller Other Mommy taking the lead after earning an impressive $12.6 million on its opening day. Meanwhile, Aaron Sorkin’s highly anticipated follow-up to The Social Network, titled The Social Reckoning, began its theatrical run with $2.15 million on Friday, placing fourth among the weekend’s leading releases.
With Halloween approaching, audiences continue to show interest in frightening stories, supernatural mysteries, and intense psychological thrillers. Horror movies have remained a significant force at the box office throughout 2026, and the latest results suggest that moviegoers are still eager to experience suspense and scares on the big screen.
Universal Pictures’ Other Mommy, produced by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, delivered the strongest opening-day performance among the latest releases. The film earned $12.6 million from 3,365 theaters across North America, putting it comfortably ahead of its competitors. With a reported production budget of $18 million, the movie has made a promising start and is expected to continue attracting audiences throughout the weekend.
At the same time, The Social Reckoning has opened to a more modest response. Despite the attention surrounding its connection to the Oscar-winning 2010 drama The Social Network, the new corporate thriller collected $2.15 million on Friday from 2,606 theaters. The film is projected to earn approximately $6 million domestically over its opening weekend.
Other Mommy Takes First Place With a Strong Opening Day
The biggest box office story of the weekend belongs to Other Mommy, a supernatural horror film starring Jessica Chastain. The movie earned $12.6 million on Friday, making it the leading title in North American theaters.
Distributed by Universal Pictures and produced by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, the film arrives with an intriguing premise built around family, fear, and a disturbing supernatural presence. Its opening-day performance is particularly encouraging given its reported $18 million production budget.
Based on Josh Malerman’s 2024 novel Incidents Around the House, Other Mommy follows a family whose home becomes the setting for increasingly frightening paranormal events. The central threat is an entity that takes the appearance of a young girl’s mother, creating a terrifying situation in which a familiar face becomes a source of danger.
Jessica Chastain plays Ursula, the girl’s real mother. However, she also becomes connected to the film’s central horror through the mysterious entity known as Other Mommy, which looks exactly like Ursula. This disturbing resemblance creates an unsettling premise: how can a child know which version of her mother is real?
Jay Duplass plays Russell, Ursula’s husband, while Arabella Olivia Clark portrays Bela, their daughter. The supporting cast includes Dichen Lachman, Arian Moayed, Karen Allen, and Sean Kaufman.
The film’s central concept offers a different kind of supernatural horror. Rather than relying exclusively on frightening creatures or sudden shocks, the story draws tension from the idea that something dangerous can imitate a person a child knows and trusts.
That combination of family drama and supernatural suspense could help the film connect with audiences looking for an unsettling theatrical experience during the Halloween season.
Other Mommy is projected to earn approximately $28 million by Sunday. If it reaches that estimate, it will have delivered a strong opening weekend relative to its production budget. However, its eventual financial success will also depend on audience interest in the coming weeks, competition from other releases, and its ability to maintain ticket sales after its initial debut.
Why Other Mommy Could Benefit From the Halloween Season
The timing of Other Mommy could prove important to its box office performance. Horror films frequently benefit from the weeks leading up to Halloween, when audiences actively seek supernatural stories, psychological thrillers, and frightening experiences.
The movie also has several elements that may appeal to horror fans. Its premise is easy to understand, its central threat is emotionally unsettling, and Jessica Chastain brings an established screen presence to the leading role.
The film’s reported $18 million production budget is another important consideration. Although box office revenue is not the same as studio profit, a relatively controlled production budget can give a genre film a more manageable financial target than a large-scale blockbuster.
Still, opening-day figures alone do not determine whether a film becomes a lasting hit. Weekend attendance, international box office results, marketing expenses, and theatrical revenue arrangements all contribute to the final financial picture.
For now, Other Mommy has established itself as the weekend’s leading theatrical attraction and given the horror genre another notable result in 2026.
The Social Reckoning Opens With $2.15 Million
While Other Mommy dominated Friday’s box office, The Social Reckoning experienced a considerably quieter opening.
The new film earned $2.15 million from 2,606 North American theaters on Friday, placing it in fourth position. Its projected domestic opening-weekend total stands at approximately $6 million.
Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, The Social Reckoning follows the world of technology, corporate accountability, and the consequences of powerful digital platforms. It serves as a follow-up to The Social Network, the acclaimed 2010 drama that explored the creation of Facebook and the conflicts surrounding its early development.
The Social Network earned approximately $224 million worldwide and went on to win four Academy Awards. Its combination of sharp dialogue, ambitious characters, and a fast-moving story about technology and business made it one of the most widely discussed films of its era.
That legacy naturally creates expectations for The Social Reckoning. However, the new film approaches its subject from a different angle, examining the consequences of social media power and the questions surrounding corporate responsibility.
The film has received mixed reviews since its premiere earlier in the week. Its opening-day performance suggests that it has not attracted the same immediate theatrical momentum as Other Mommy, although its longer-term prospects will depend on audience reactions and word of mouth.
The Facebook Files Form the Basis of the New Drama
The Social Reckoning centers on the 2021 Facebook document leak involving whistleblower Frances Haugen.
Mikey Madison plays Haugen, whose disclosures brought renewed attention to internal company documents and debates about the effects of social media platforms. Jeremy Strong portrays Mark Zuckerberg, while Jeremy Allen White plays Jeff Horwitz, the journalist who investigated thousands of pages of internal material.
Horwitz’s reporting contributed to The Facebook Files, a series of stories that examined Facebook’s internal knowledge of issues associated with its platform and its impact on users.
The film explores the intersection of technology, journalism, corporate power, and public accountability. These subjects have remained relevant as social media companies face questions about transparency, content moderation, and the influence their products have on society.
Bill Burr, Betty Gilpin, and Billy Magnussen also appear in the cast.
Rather than revisiting the origins of Facebook, as The Social Network did, The Social Reckoning focuses on events surrounding the platform’s later years. This shift gives the sequel an opportunity to explore how the technology industry has changed and how public understanding of social media has evolved.
However, the film faces a challenge familiar to many sequels: it must attract viewers who remember the original while convincing new audiences that its story deserves attention on its own.
Its opening weekend will provide an early indication of theatrical demand, but the initial $2.15 million Friday result does not by itself determine its eventual performance.
Verity Holds Second Place With Another $4 Million
Amazon MGM’s psychological thriller Verity occupied second place on Friday, earning $4 million.
The movie is adapted from Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel of the same name and features Anne Hathaway, Josh Hartnett, and Dakota Johnson. Its story draws on the suspense and psychological uncertainty associated with the source material, giving audiences a mystery-driven alternative to the weekend’s supernatural horror offerings.
Verity is projected to earn another $14.2 million by Sunday, which would bring its cumulative domestic box office total to approximately $56.6 million.
Its continued presence near the top of the rankings indicates that the film remains a significant competitor as newer releases arrive in theaters. Unlike a movie beginning its theatrical run, Verity has already accumulated a substantial domestic total, meaning its current position reflects ongoing audience interest rather than opening-day curiosity alone.
The film also benefits from recognizable leading performers and an established literary property. Adaptations of popular books can attract viewers who already know the story, while audiences unfamiliar with the original novel may be drawn in by the cast and the promise of a suspenseful mystery.
With its latest Friday earnings, Verity continues to contribute to a box office landscape dominated by thrillers, horror stories, and films built around tense psychological situations.
Resident Evil Adds $2.32 Million to Its Domestic Total
Columbia Pictures’ Resident Evil secured third place on Friday after earning $2.32 million.
Directed by Zach Cregger, the zombie horror film is based on the popular video game franchise and stars Austin Abrams as a medical courier caught in the middle of a dangerous outbreak.
The story follows the courier as he attempts to complete a delivery to Raccoon City General Hospital while facing the chaos created by the spreading zombie threat.
The film is targeting approximately $8.2 million for the weekend, which would raise its cumulative domestic gross to around $138.37 million.
Its latest earnings demonstrate that the movie continues to attract ticket buyers despite competition from newer releases. Its established franchise identity may also help maintain interest among audiences familiar with the video games and previous screen adaptations.
Video game adaptations have become an increasingly visible part of the entertainment industry, although their success depends on several factors, including how they translate the original material, the strength of their storytelling, and their ability to appeal to viewers who may not know the games.
For Resident Evil, the combination of an outbreak scenario, survival-driven suspense, and a recognizable franchise provides a foundation for its theatrical run.
Although it finished behind Other Mommy and Verity on Friday, its accumulated domestic earnings place it among the weekend’s most financially established titles.
The Heart of the Beast Finishes in Fifth Place
Paramount Pictures’ The Heart of the Beast rounded out the top five on Friday, earning $1.96 million.
The adventure film stars Brad Pitt as a retired veteran who must find a way to survive after a plane crash leaves him and his combat dog stranded in the Alaskan wilderness.
Directed by David Ayer, the film follows the pair as they attempt to navigate a dangerous 58-mile journey toward safety. The remote setting provides the backdrop for a survival story centered on physical endurance, loyalty, and the bond between a former soldier and his canine companion.
The movie is expected to collect approximately $6.91 million over the weekend, bringing its cumulative domestic box office total to around $49.47 million.
Its premise differs considerably from the supernatural horror of Other Mommy and the corporate drama of The Social Reckoning. Instead of focusing on paranormal threats or technology-industry controversies, The Heart of the Beast places its characters in a natural environment where survival becomes the central challenge.
Brad Pitt’s leading role gives the movie a recognizable star at the center of its story, while the relationship between the veteran and his combat dog offers an emotional element alongside the action and wilderness adventure.
Its Friday performance placed it fifth among the leading titles, but its accumulated domestic total reflects the revenue it has already generated during its theatrical run.
Weekend Box Office Highlights a Competitive Mix of Genres
Friday’s box office results reveal a varied theatrical landscape. Other Mommy led the rankings with a strong opening-day performance, while Verity maintained second place and Resident Evil continued adding to its domestic total.
At the same time, The Social Reckoning entered theaters with a more modest start, and The Heart of the Beast remained among the top five.
The results also highlight how different films can attract audiences for different reasons. Horror movies offer suspense and fear, psychological thrillers draw viewers into mysteries, corporate dramas explore real-world controversies, and survival adventures deliver stories about endurance and human connection.
With Halloween approaching, horror has an especially favorable seasonal backdrop. Other Mommy has already benefited from that environment, although the coming weeks will determine whether it can maintain its momentum.
For The Social Reckoning, the next challenge is turning awareness of Aaron Sorkin’s connection to The Social Network into sustained audience interest. Its subject matter gives it a timely angle, but its theatrical performance will depend on whether moviegoers respond to the finished film.
The weekend’s projected totals offer an early picture of how the competing releases may finish. Other Mommy is expected to reach $28 million, followed by Verity at an estimated $14.2 million for the weekend, Resident Evil at $8.2 million, The Social Reckoning at $6 million, and The Heart of the Beast at $6.91 million.
These figures are projections rather than final results and may change as additional ticket sales are reported.
For now, the headline belongs to Other Mommy. Its $12.6 million opening day gives the supernatural thriller a clear advantage and reinforces horror’s strong position in the 2026 theatrical marketplace. Whether the film can turn its promising start into a lasting box office success remains to be seen, but it has already established itself as the weekend’s leading new release.