Freaky Tops Box Office During Dismal Weekend

Blumhousehorror comedy Freaky, starring Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton, remains atop the box office for the second week in a row as the industry goes back into COVID-induced hibernation. Freaky puts a horror twist on the Freaky Friday formula, with teenager Millie Kessler (Newton) swapping bodies with Butcher (Vaughn), a serial killer who had been targeting her. Now Millie has 24 hours to return to her real body or she’ll be trapped inside the murderer’s form forever. Christopher Landon directs the film, which he co-wrote with Michael Kennedy. Vaughn and Newton are joined in the film’s cast by Katie Finneran, Celeste O’Connor, and Alan Ruck.

Freaky earned $1.2 million in its second weekend and, in a sign of how slow the weekend was for theaters, is the only movie to earn more than $1 million at the box office over the past three days. Holiday comedy The War With Grandpa is in second place with $733,000. Neo-Western Let Him Go, starring Diane Lane and Kevin Costner, moves into third place with $710,000. Another horror movie, Come Play, remains in fourth place with $550,000 million. Tim Allen’s holiday classic The Santa Clause returns to theaters with $461,000 for the weekend. Liam Neason’s action-thriller Honest Thief is in sixth place with $452,000.

Keep reading to see this weekend’s full top 10 box office list.

1. Freaky

• Week Two
• Weekend: $1.2 million
• Total: $5.6 Million

Seventeen-year-old Millie Kessler spends her days trying to survive high school and the cruel actions of the popular crowd. But when she becomes the latest target of the Butcher, the town’s infamous serial killer, her senior year becomes the least of her worries. When the Butcher’s mystical dagger causes him and Millie to magically switch bodies, the frightened teen learns she has just 24 hours to get her identity back before she looks like a middle-aged maniac forever.

Freaky is directed by Christopher Landon, based a screenplay he wrote Landon with Michael Kennedy. The film stars Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Katie Finneran, Celeste O’Connor, and Alan Ruck.

2. The War With Grandpa

• Week Seven
• Weekend: $733,000
• Total: $16.1 million

Peter and his grandpa used to be very close, but when Grandpa Jack moves in with the family, Peter is forced to give up his most prized possession: his bedroom. Peter will stop at nothing to get his room back, scheming with friends to devise a series of pranks to drive him out. However, grandpa doesn’t give up easily, and it turns into an all-out war between the two.

The War with Grandpa is directed by Tim Hill from a screenplay by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember, based on Robert Kimmel Smith’s novel of the same name. The film stars Robert De Niro, Oakes Fegley, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Laura Marano, Cheech Marin, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Walken.

3. Let Him Go

• Week Three
• Weekend: $710,000
• Total: $7.9 million

Following the loss of their son, a retired sheriff and his wife leave their Montana ranch to rescue their young grandson from the clutches of a dangerous family living off the grid in the Dakotas.

Let Him Go is written and directed by Thomas Bezucha. The film is based on Larry Watson’s 2013 novel of the same name. It stars Kevin Costner and Diane Lane

4. Come Play

• Week Four
• Weekend: $550,000
• Total: $8 million

Parents fight to save their son when a mysterious creature uses his electronic devices to break into our world.

Come Play is written and directed by Jacob Chase. The film stars Gillian Jacobs, John Gallagher Jr., Azhy Robertson, and Winslow Fegley.

5. The Santa Clause

• Opening weekend (of re-release)
• Weekend: $461,000
• Total: $145.1 million

Divorced dad Scott (Tim Allen) has custody of his son (Eric Lloyd) on Christmas Eve. After he accidentally kills a man in a Santa suit, they are magically transported to the North Pole, where an elf explains that Scott must take Santa’s place before the next Christmas arrives. Scott thinks he’s dreaming, but over the next several months he gains weight and grows an inexplicably white beard. Maybe that night at the North Pole wasn’t a dream after all — and maybe Scott has a lot of work to do.

The Santa Clause was directed by John Pasquin and stars Tim Allen, Wendy Crewson
David Krumholtz, Larry Brandenburg, Judge Reinhold, Eric Lloyd, Jayne Eastwood, and Peter Boyle.

6. Honest Thief

• Week Seven
• Weekend: $452,000
• Total: $13 million

Hoping to cut a deal, a professional bank robber agrees to return all the money he stole in exchange for a reduced sentence. But when two FBI agents set him up for murder, he must now go on the run to clear his name and bring them to justice.

Honest Thief is directed by Mark Williams, from a screenplay Williams co-wrote with Steve Allrich. The movie stars Liam Neeson, Kate Walsh, Robert Patrick, Anthony Ramos, Jeffrey Donovan, and Jai Courtney.

7. Vanguard

• Opening Weekend
• Total: $400,000

Members of a covert security company try to protect an accountant from the world’s deadliest mercenary organization.

Vanguard is directed by Stanley Tong and stars Jackie Chan, Yang Yang, and Miya Muqi.

8. Tenet

• Week 12
• Weekend: $360,000
• Total: $56.9 million

A secret agent embarks on a dangerous, time-bending mission to prevent the start of World War III.

Tenet is directed by Christopher Nolan and stars  John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh.

9. Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song

• Opening Weekend
• Total: $200,000

As Sakura drowns in the murky darkness of the sins she has committed, Shirou’s vow to protect her at all costs leads him into a raging battle to put an end to the Holy Grail War.

Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song is directed by Tomonori Sudō.

10. Elf

• Week Two (of Re-Release)
• Weekend: $178,000
• Total: $178 million

Buddy (Will Ferrell) was accidentally transported to the North Pole as a toddler and raised to adulthood among Santa’s elves. Unable to shake the feeling that he doesn’t fit in, the adult Buddy travels to New York, in full elf uniform, in search of his real father. As it happens, this is Walter Hobbs (James Caan), a cynical businessman. After a DNA test proves this, Walter reluctantly attempts to start a relationship with the childlike Buddy with increasingly chaotic results.

First released in 2003, Elf was directed by Jon Favreau, written by David Berenbaum, and stars Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Daniel Tay, Bob Newhart and Ed Asner.