Box Office: Lionsgate’s Action-Thriller ‘Fall’ and A24’s ‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’ Hope to Benefit From Utter Lack of New Blockbusters

After a pretty successful summer season, it’s officially the dog days at the domestic box office.

Without a major studio movie on the horizon, theater operators are banking on a smattering of smaller, lower-budgeted horror stories, comedies and dramas to take advantage of the lull in blockbusters. Basically, the next few weeks will cater to the rare ticket buyers who have been dying to return to the movies, but aren’t fans of comic book adventures or action tentpoles.

This weekend will be particularly quiet with Lionsgate’s action-thriller “Fall” and A24’s satirical slasher “Bodies Bodies Bodies” as the only new nationwide releases. According to tracking estimates, “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” which is expanding to 1,200 locations, is aiming for $2 million to $3 million in domestic ticket sales. Meanwhile “Fall,” which is debuting in 1,548 North American venues, is estimated to bring in $1 million to $2 million between Friday and Sunday.

With those single-digit projections, last weekend’s champion “Bullet Train” is expected to repeat No. 1 at the domestic box office. The blood-soaked Sony Pictures pic, starring Brad Pitt as a hitman nicknamed Ladybug, opened to $30.1 million and looks to add $13 million to $15 million in its sophomore outing. The R-rated “Bullet Train” cost $90 million to produce, so it needs to sustain momentum in the coming weeks to justify its hefty price tag — and to convince studios to keep investing in original movies.

Already, “Bodies Bodies Bodies” has kicked off in limited release with a promising $226,526 from six theaters in New York and Los Angeles. With solid word-of-mouth and positive reviews, the Gen Z-skewing “Bodies Bodies Bodies” looks to rank above “Fall” on domestic box office charts. However, it’ll likely arrive behind holdovers like “DC League of Super-Pets,” Jordan Peele’s UFO thriller “Nope” and Marvel’s “Thor: Love and Thunder.”

“Bodies Bodies Bodies” features the buzzy ensemble cast of “The Hate U Give’s” Amandla Stenberg, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” breakout Maria Bakalova, “Shiva Baby” star Rachel Sennott and “Saturday Night Live’s” Pete Davidson, and centers on rich 20-somethings who plan a hurricane party at a remote family mansion that turns deadly.

There are plenty of options for moviegoers who want their palms to sweat. Directed by Scott Mann, “Fall” is an adrenaline-inducing thriller about best friends Becky and Hunter (Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner) who climb 2,000 feet to the top of an abandoned radio tower and find themselves stranded with no way down. Though the movie has received mixed reviews, Variety‘s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman praised “Fall” as a “fun, occasionally cheesy, but mostly ingeniously made thriller.”

“It’s for anyone who ate up ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,’ as well as the awesome rock-climbing documentaries ‘Free Solo’ and ‘The Dawn Wall,’ and wants to continue that shivery vicarious high,” he wrote.

Several films will open in limited release, including Diane Keaton’s body-swap comedy “Mack & Rita” from Gravitas Ventures, Bleecker Street’s coming-of-age drama “Summering,” the Aubrey Plaza-led heist thriller “Emily the Criminal” from Roadside Attractions, and IFC Film’s con-artist mystery “Rogue Agent.”

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