‘Other Mommy’ Opens Big, but Terrible Word of Mouth Leaves Its Box Office Run in Doubt

Horror has always been the most front-loaded genre at the box office. Audiences show up fast, buzz travels faster, and a film’s real fate is often decided by how it holds up the following Friday.

That makes the latest numbers for Jessica Chastain’s new thriller especially interesting. They show a film that has won the weekend while also showing how quickly the crowd can turn.

Horror titles live and die by their second weekend. Strong reactions can turn a good opening into a long run, while weak ones tend to cause steep drops.

Recent history offers both outcomes. January’s ‘Send Help’ opened to $19.1 million and legged out to $64.7 million domestically on good word of mouth. By contrast, a film with weak reactions can lose more than half of its audience in a single week.

R-rated horror #OtherMommy starring #JessicaChastain had a strong debut at US #BoxOffice, but awful WOM already hit it over the weekend (see breakdown below) with STRONG 27.5M 3-day Opening weekend (vs #Scream5’s 30M, #M3GAN’s 30.4M, #TheExorcistBeliever 26.5M, #TheBlackPhone 23.6M, #LongLegs 22.4M, #IronLung’s 17.8M) Breakdown 3.6M THU Previews 9M PURE FRI (12.6M FRI Op. Day including previews) 9M SAT -0.6% from PURE FRI (-29% from FRI+Previews) 5.9M SUN* -33.5% drop from SAT *Could be lower/higher when actuals come on MON The biggest ace in Blumhouse’s sleeves is always keeping budget under control, and with a 19M production price tag not including marketing, #OtherMommy should have no trouble to make most of the investment back while still in theatres even if it crashes next weekend.

— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) October 11, 2026

‘Other Mommy‘ opened to an estimated $27.5 million across three days, a strong start for an R-rated horror film. A weekend analysis breaks down how the money came in:

• Thursday previews: $3.6 million
• Friday: about $9 million, or $12.6 million including previews
• Saturday: about $9 million, flat with Friday and down about 29% from Friday plus previews
• Sunday: an estimated $5.9 million, a drop of 33.5% from Saturday

Sunday’s figure is an estimate and could change when actuals arrive on Monday. The shape of the weekend is clear, though. The film started fast, held Saturday and then slipped, a classic front-loaded pattern.

The $27.5 million start sits comfortably within the range of recent horror hits. ‘Scream’ opened to $30 million and ‘M3GAN’ to $30.4 million, while ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ opened to $26.5 million. ‘The Black Phone’ started at $23.6 million, ‘Long Legs’ at $22.4 million and ‘Iron Lung’ at $17.8 million.

Its previews were also strong. The $3.6 million Thursday haul topped ‘Iron Lung’ and ‘Scream’, which both made $3.5 million, and it is the kind of start that made forecasters raise their estimates all week.

The warning signs are on the scorecard. The film holds an 18% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a rare D+ CinemaScore, with the audience reaction described as awful word of mouth.

‘The Exorcist: Believer’ is a cautionary comparison. It opened to $26.5 million with a C CinemaScore, then fell about 58% in its second weekend to $11 million and finished with $65.5 million domestically. Applying a similar 60% drop to ‘Other Mommy’ would leave roughly $11 million next weekend.

Here is where the film’s economics matter. Its reported production budget is $19 million, not including marketing, and some reports put it at $18 million.

Blumhouse’s greatest strength has always been keeping costs under control. The film has essentially earned back its budget in one weekend, so even a steep second-weekend crash should leave it with a profitable run while it is still in theaters.

First look at an eerie crying billboard for ‘OTHER MOMMY’, starring Jessica Chastain. The film follows a young girl who is threatened by a sinister demon that looks exactly like her mother. https://t.co/4g0jwHVQE6

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 8, 2026

The film also benefited from a thin marketplace. Total weekend earnings fell below $90 million, the second straight weekend in which new releases struggled. Sony’s ‘The Social Reckoning’ opened in fifth place with about $6 million.

‘Resident Evil’ and ‘Verity’ posted solid holds, and ‘The Odyssey’ returned to the top 10. In that environment, a $27.5 million opening looks even bigger.

One analyst expects ‘Other Mommy’ to finish somewhere around $55 million to $60 million domestically. That is below the best-case scenarios some forecasters imagined before opening but still a solid result for the budget.

The film has other bright spots. Director Rob Savage’s ‘The Boogeyman’ opened at $12.35 million and ended with $43.2 million domestically, and Chastain’s 2013 horror film ‘Mama’ grossed $148.1 million on a $15 million budget.

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