‘Come Play’ tops North American box office on Halloween weekend

Directed by Jacob Chase and starring Azhy Robertson, Gillian Jacobs and John Gallagher Jr., the PG-13 Halloween offering follows the parents of Oliver, a lonely young boy with autism, as they fight to save their son from a villainous humanoid

California: Focus Features and Amblin’s horror-thriller film “Come Play” led ticket sales at the sleepy North American Halloween box office with mere 3.15 million U.S. dollars from 2,183 locations in its opening weekend, according to studio figures collected by measurement firm Comscore.

Directed by Jacob Chase and starring Azhy Robertson, Gillian Jacobs and John Gallagher Jr., the PG-13 Halloween offering follows the parents of Oliver, a lonely young boy with autism, as they fight to save their son from a villainous humanoid creature that preys on the innocence of children.

“Thank you everyone for going to the theaters! You have all helped make #ComePlay the number one movie at the box office,” the director Chase tweeted, adding that “Wowzers! You have all made my Halloween very happy!”

Comscore noted that only around 49 per cent of all North American Theaters are currently open. Although movie theaters outside New York City were allowed to reopen in New York state at 25 per cent capacity under state guidance starting Oct. 23, Los Angeles and some other major markets in the country remained closed due to the pandemic.

“With those venues shuttered, studios are wary of releasing big-budget potential blockbusters,” reported Variety magazine, adding that “For the time being, studios are siphoning off smaller movies like ‘Come Play,’ supernatural thriller ‘The Empty Man’ and family flick ‘The War With Grandpa.’ ”

“It’s a chance for theater owners to offer audiences new products, sure, but such offerings are hardly moving the needle for ticket sales,” explained Variety.

“Come Play” holds an approval rating of 52 per cent based on 79 reviews to date on review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

Open Road Films’ action thriller “Honest Thief” moved to second place with 1.35 million dollars from 2,360 locations in its fourth weekend, pushing its North American total to 9.53 million dollars to date.

Directed by Mark Williams and starring Liam Neeson in the title role, the film follows a former bank robber who turns himself in to the authorities to start a new life after falling in love with a woman, only to be double-crossed by two ruthless FBI agents who want to devour his fortune.

“The War with Grandpa,” the 101 Studios’ family comedy film, came in third with 1.08 million dollars from 2,365 locations in its fourth weekend.

Directed by Tim Hill and based upon the novel of the same name by the late American children’s book author Robert Kimmel Smith, the film stars two-time Academy Award winner Robert De Niro. The plot follows a sixth-grader who works to get his grandfather to move out of his room after he moves in with his family.