‘Smile’ Still No. 1 at Box Office With $17.6 Million Weekend as ‘Amsterdam’ Bombs

The new movie Amsterdam has been in theaters for just one week, but it’s already been deemed a massive failure due to its disappointing box office performance.

“Every movie needs a rabbi,” the great and grumpy Robert Altman once warned fellow filmmakers. “You need at least one important critic to champion your cause.”

While tentpoles resuscitated moviegoing this past summer with pics like Top Gun: Maverick, it’s true that the more, adult-skewing fare is having a much harder time now. No where was this more true than with David O. Russell’s Amsterdam which rivals believed had a shot at opening to $12M-$15M this past weekend based on the period absurdist comedy’s glossy ensemble of Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Rami Malek, Robert De Niro, Anya Taylor Joy, Taylor Swift, Michael Shannon (the list doesn’t stop…).

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter David O. Russell’s star-studded period drama “Amsterdam” collapsed in its box office debut, earning an anemic $6.5 million from 3,005 North American theaters. The movie, which cost $80 million to produce, couldn’t overcome bad reviews and minimal buzz and is shaping up to be one of the biggest misfires of the year. This weekend’s other newcomer “Lyle Lyle Crocodile” also fell short of expectations with $11.5 million from 4,350 cinemas in its opening weekend. However, Sony’s animated family film, an adaptation of the popular children’s book about an  anthropomorphic reptile (who sings!) voiced by Shawn Mendes, won’t be as painful for the studio given its $50 million price tag.

“Smile” has had fairly positive audience metrics with a B- on CinemaScore and a 69% positive score on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak, but nothing that would indicate particularly long legs for a horror film. But this second weekend total would be just a 26% drop from the film’s $22.6 million opening weekend, giving the film a $49 million 10-day total against a $17 million budget ahead of the release of Universal’s “Halloween Ends” next Friday.

“Amsterdam,” the new David O. Russell historical mystery, has enough mega-watt stars to power a midsized American city.The cast includes (but is not limited to) Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rami Malek, Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Zoe Saldaña, Timothy Olyphant and Matthias Schoenaerts. If there’s a lead in the movie, it’s Christian Bale, who developed the project with Russell and who stars as an injured veteran of World War I who is now looking to help his fellow wounded soldiers start their new lives in New York.

“Amsterdam,” a new historical mystery from “Silver Lining’s Playbook” and “The Fighter” director David O. Russell is here. And if the marketing material has been more than a little confusing (because, admittedly, it has been), we’re here to clear up all of your questions – what the movie is, where you can watch it and who is a part of the unstoppable, all-star cast.Read on for a definitive cheat sheet on one of this year’s more star-studded films.It is in theaters, exclusively, starting October 7.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Matthias Schoenaerts will star opposite Kate Winslet in the upcoming HBO limited series “The Palace,” Variety has learned. The series was picked up at HBO in July. Per the official logline, it “tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of an authoritarian regime as it begins to unravel.” Exact character details are being kept under wraps. Schoenaerts can currently be seen in the David O. Russell film “Amsterdam” in the role of Detective Lem Getweiler. Up next, he will be seen in the Canal+/Sky series “Django” and the feature “The Way of the Wind” from Terrence Malick. He also recently wrapped filming on the Netflix film “The Old Guard 2.” His past credits include films like “Rust and Bone,” “The Danish Girl,” and “Far from the Madding Crowd.”

Jordan Moreau “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” is slowly getting ready to take a bite out of the weekend box office. It earned $575,000 from 3,453 theaters in Thursday previews, while David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam” picked up $550,000 million from 3,005 theaters. Sony’s live-action/CGI hybrid, co-financed by TSG, is a family-friendly movie about a singing crocodile, starring Grammy-nominated artist Shawn Mendes as the titular reptile. The studio projects an opening haul of $11 million to $12 million, with some projections belting out upwards of $15 million. With a budget of $50 million, it will need plenty of support from kids and families over the fall to snap up a profit. The cast includes Javier Bardem as Hector P. Valenti, Lyle’s flamboyant owner, Brett Gelman as Mr. Grumps and Constance Wu, Scoot McNairy and Winslow Fegley as the Primm family. The Primms move to a new house in New York City, where they discover Lyle, a saltwater crocodile with the voice of a high-end recording artist, living in their attic.

Brent Lang Executive Editor In one corner, a star-studded murder mystery from one of the most acclaimed directors in Hollywood. In the other, a family fable that features a CGI crocodile who sounds a lot like Shawn Mendes. As Hollywood heads into another quiet fall weekend at the box office, David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam” is squaring off against “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile,” and both new releases are facing strong competition from reigning champ “Smile.” Of the two new entrants, “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” seems to be in the stronger position. There haven’t been many movies geared toward kids — the last one was “DC League of Super-Pets” way back in July. The $50 million production will open in more than 4,300 locations, where it should make $15 million or more. Sony Pictures, the studio behind the film, is being more conservative and projecting an opening in the $11 million to $12 million range. That could be enough for a first-place finish, depending on how steeply “Smile,” which opened to $22.6 million, drops in its second weekend of release.

“Amsterdam” is a star-studded film.Its cast includes (deep breath) Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Zoe Saldaña, Andrea Riseborough, Rami Malek and Robert De Niro (among others). It’s a lively, spirited historical mystery about World War I and a vast right-wing conspiracy on American shores. But the movie becomes even more electric when two stars appear on screen together: Mike Myers and Michael Shannon.The two performers play spies who assist our heroes, first in the title city and later in New York, as they attempt to thwart a growing threat to democracy.

Don’t underestimate the second weekend of Paramount’s horror movie Smile. The Parker Finn directed and written title, which has provided many in town that horror remains a bankable genre for the big screen after a $22.6M opening, has a shot of possibly upsetting Sony’s family movie Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile and 20th Century Studios/New Regency/Disney’s upscale David O. Russell comedy Amsterdam for No. 1 with around an $11M+ take.

“The world is beautiful, this world is luscious and precise, and it takes specific people to create a living world,” director David O. Russell says in a new exclusive clip about the craft of his latest film, “Amsterdam.” While the film, which comes out this week on October 7, has been lauded for its sprawling, A-list cast—Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, and John David Washington as the three leads, plus a cavalcade of supporting actors like Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Taylor Swift, Rami Malek, and Robert De Niro— there are also several superstars below the line who worked on the gorgeous-looking movie.

A humbling moment. Christian Bale thought he and costar John David Washington were doing a great job singing while filming Amsterdam – until director David O. Russell had Taylor Swift step in to set them straight. 

Amsterdam as David O. Russell wouldn’t call cut.The actor, starring in the American Hustle filmmaker’s new film alongside Christian Bale and John David Washington, spoke on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to explain that “technically, we didn’t ever really stop”.Robbie explained that the shoot went beyond the permit allowances while shooting in Pasadena, which forced the police forces to intervene.“You get a permit to shoot somewhere. We were in Pasadena and the time was up,” Robbie said.