The box office doldrums of October will continue this weekend, with three new wide releases that will likely all underwhelm in theaters. This comes just days after Disney’s Tron: Ares came in far under industry projections, debuting with a lackluster $33.2 million. There will be three new releases — Black Phone 2, Good Fortune, and After The Hunt.

Universal’s Black Phone 2 brings back Mason Thames as Finney, Ethan Hawke as The Grabber, and Madeleine McGraw as Gwen, Finneys sister in the upcoming horror sequel. Lionsgate’s Good Fortune marks the directorial debut of comedian Aziz Ansari, who also stars alongside Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen. Amazon/MGM’s After The Hunt stars Julia Roberts from director Luca Guadagnino.

While Tron: Ares will likely still factor into the top 5 — barring a colossal second-weekend drop — which very well may happen considering its sluggish start, a new box office winner will be crowned this weekend. That new box office champion will be Black Phone 2, which we’re predicting will debut with $24.7 million this weekend.

Black Phone 2 Will Dial Up Big Box At The Box Office

Universal’s The Black Phone was a horror hit in the summer of 2022, reuniting the creative team of director Scott Derrickson and writer C. Robert Cargill. The film debuted with $23.6 million en route to $90.1 million domestic and $161.4 million worldwide from a budget estimated to be between $16 million and $18 million.

It didn’t take long for a sequel to be put into development, with Finney returning after seemingly vanquishing The Grabber at the end of the original film. However, The Grabber has somehow returned to terrorize Finney and his sister Gwen, who is now having bizarre visions herself in the sequel, set in 1982, four years after the original.

The sequel should be set up for some mild box office success, opening just a hair above the original, as we’re predicting Black Phone 2 to easily take the top spot this weekend. It should have no problem dethroning Tron: Ares at the box office this weekend with a projected $24.7 million.

Good Fortune Won’t Make Much Fortune At The Box Office

Keanu Reeves makes his long-awaited return to comedy in Good Fortune, which Aziz Ansari wrote, directed and produced for Lionsgate. The comedy follows a downtrodden man named Arj (Ansari), who has been struggling to make ends meet through a series of odd jobs, even at the point where he has to sleep in his car.

He crosses paths with an angel (Reeves), who oversteps his boundaries of only stopping people from getting into car wrecks while texting and driving, and becomes Arj’s guardian angel. He uses his divine powers to switch his life with his wealthy former boss (Rogen), who fired him after he used a company credit card to buy dinner on a date.

While the reviews are strong for Good Fortune (currently at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes), it’s not expected to rake in a huge fortune at the box office while opening in wide release. Tron: Ares is expected to drop to second place, and we’re projecting a $12.6 million, with Good Fortune sliding into third place, with $8.4 million.

After The Hunt Won’t Hunt Down The Big Bucks At The Box Office

Director Luca Guadagnino has a star-studded cast for After The Hunt like Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edibiri, though it doesn’t have the critical acclaim of his past films. After The Hunt is currently at 41% on Rotten Tomatoes, and while a bad RT score doesn’t always lead to a poor box office showing, this time it might.

The film centers on a professor (Julia Roberts) who finds herself at odds when an accusation is leveled against one of her colleagues (Andrew Garfield). The film debuted at the prestigious Venice Film Festival last month, which is often one of the barometers for the Oscar race, though the reviews coming out of the festival were quite mixed.

After The Hunt isn’t expected to make much of a dent at the box office, as we’re projecting it to take in $3.5 million after its limited release debut, coming in fifth place behind Tron: Ares ($11.8 million), Good Fortune ($8.4 million), and Roofman ($4.4 million). Take a look at our full Top 10 projections below.