Look, it’s been a weird fall for movies. Between Taylor Swift breaking AMC’s servers, new horror movie sequels shuffling around the charts, and anime dominating one weekend only to disappear the next, October’s box office has been unpredictable at best and discouraging at worst. But, amid the chaos, one thing is now undeniably true: Mason Thames had a better month than most studios.
Some people may probably know Thames from his breakout role in The Black Phone and, this October, he made waves again—well, twice. First, he returned as Finney in Black Phone 2, which earned a solid $8 million over Halloween weekend, bringing its domestic total to $61.5 million and, per Box Office Mojo, pushing it past $104 million globally. Then, he popped up again in Regretting You, a Colleen Hoover book-to-screen adaptation that also managed to snag $8.1 million domestically over the same weekend, narrowly edging out his own horror sequel for the top spot.
According to CinemaBlend's Eric Eisenberg's box office breakdown, this is shaping up to be one of the slowest Halloween weekends on record, with most moviegoers busy with costumes, candy, and a World Series finale. In that kind of market, pulling decent numbers is an achievement. Leading two of the weekend's only real box office wins? That’s a flex.
Thames’ October one-two punch is impressive on its own but, when you factor in that he also led the 2025 movie release of the How to Train Your Dragon live-action reboot, it’s clear this 18-year-old is quietly building a stacked resume. He’s dipping into horror, fantasy IP, and now young adult melodrama. Is he Gen Z’s most versatile leading man?
It’s worth noting that neither Black Phone 2 nor Regretting You had ideal conditions. Scott Derrickson's flick faced the usual horror sequel skepticism and a competitive spooky season with The Long Walk still playing in select theaters, the limited release of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, and the much-talked-about Shelby Oaks, Meanwhile, the Josh Boone-helmed rom-com followed in the enormous footsteps of It Ends with Us, which cleared nearly $350 million globally last year. Expectations were high and, even if it didn’t match its predecessor, $50.8 million worldwide in two weeks isn’t nothing.
What these films do share, besides a common lead, is a committed audience base. Horror fans showed up for Finney and The Grabber’s return. Hoover’s loyal readers turned out to see their latest book brought to life. And both crowds came away with something else to talk about. Mason Thames.
If October belonged to anyone, it wasn’t a franchise, a studio or even Taylor Swift. It was a teenager with a penchant for emotionally bruised characters and quiet intensity. As the fall release calendar makes way for winter and then the 2026 movie schedule, Thames might be stepping back for now, but I expect to see him everywhere soon enough, because he is clearly a bankable young star.
Both Black Phone 2 and Regretting You are currently playing in theaters, so be sure to check your local listings for showtimes. As for Thames' other big 2025 release, How to Train Your Dragon, it is available for streaming with a Peacock subscription.
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