‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ nearly breaks box office record as it summons a $110 million debut

The Deetz family conjured more than just a trickster demon this weekend — they also summoned a massive debut weekend in theaters.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to the 1988 cult classic, has arrived just in time for the fall season, debuting to an estimated  $110 million domestically, per Comscore. This marks the second biggest September domestic debut of all time, with the campy horror comedy trailing just behind a true horrorfest, Warner Bros’ 2017 adaptation of Stephen King It, which opened to $123 million.

While the Beetlejuice sequel didn’t manage to snag that record, it still enjoyed an all-around impressive debut. It picked up $35.4 million internationally, for a combined worldwide sum of $145.5 million.

Coming 36 years after the original film, the Tim Burton-directed film sees three generations of the Deetz family returning to their haunted Winter River home after an unexpected family tragedy. It’s there that Lydia (Winona Ryder) — still haunted by Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) — clashes with her rebellious teenage daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who soon discovers a mysterious portal to the afterlife. Just like that, the mischievous demon is back and his trademark chaos comes with him. Catherine O’Hara is back as Delia, joined by newcomers Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, and Willem Dafoe.

Reflecting on where the sequel finds her now grown-up character, Ryder told Entertainment Weekly, “I would hope there’s that thing of wanting to keep the essence of the first one, but then imagine this whole life that’s happened. I never thought about Lydia ever being a mom. I thought she would just be this spinster by choice in that attic, but I think that’s where the incredible Jenna Ortega comes in.he answered a ton of those questions, and it felt so right.”

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Besides Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the weekend’s heavy-hitters include titles already several weeks into their theatrical run. Deadpool & Wolverine snagged second place after seven weeks in theaters, earning an estimated $7.2 million towards its $614 million domestic total. Abroad, the film picked up $15.6 million for a $1.287 billion global total.

The superhero flick, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as the titular anti-heroes, remains the seventh biggest MCU release of all-time but has secured the title of highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.

Reagan —the biopic tracing the life of Ronald Reagan from Hollywood fame to the American presidency — came in third, with a domestic haul of $5.2 million. After two weeks in theaters, it total sits at $18.5 million globally, with the film only picking up an estimated $9,740 abroad.

Dennis Quaid, who headlines the movie, previously told EW that he was terrified to take on the role of America’s 40th president. “I didn’t understand why they were offering me Ronald Reagan because I just didn’t see it,” the actor said in a 2021 interview. “I admired him so much, and so I had a chill of fear go down my spine when I was offered it. That’s usually kind of a sign that maybe I should do it, because it’s out of my comfort zone.”

Alien: Romulus, the seventh installment in the Alien franchise, added another $3.9 million to its $97.1 million domestic total. It also continued a successful streak in international markets, picking up an additional $13.7 million for a global total of $314.3 million. Led by Cailee Spaeny, the film follows a group of young space colonizers as they scavenge an abandoned station in hopes of beginning a better life. Instead, they come face-to-face with horror-inducing, hostile lifeforms.

Rounding out fifth is It Ends With Us, which picked up another $3.7 million towards its $141 million domestic haul ($309.3 million globally). Based on the bestselling Colleen Hoover novel, the film is still bringing fans to screens after five weeks in theaters.

The drama stars Blake Lively as Lily Bloom, a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood with an abusive father to begin anew in Boston, where she falls in love with charming neurosurgeon Ryle (Justin Baldoni). But her blissful love story isn’t all it seems and soon, she realized that his abusive behavior is continuing the harmful cycle she’s worked her whole life to escape.