October was a bust at the box office as big-budget tentpoles and awards contenders like Disney’s “ Tron: Ares ” and Dwayne Johnson’s “ The Smashing Machine ” struggled to sell tickets.

Overall revenues for the month were tragic with $425 million across all titles, the worst collective haul since October 1997 — when psychological thriller “Kiss the Girls,” slasher “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and supernatural mind-bender “The Devil’s Advocate” were the top-grossing titles — with $385 million, not adjusted for inflation. This ignominious record doesn’t include 2020 when theaters hadn’t rebounded from the pandemic and major studios were less than eager to unveil new films.

“An inauspicious Halloween ended a rather challenging month of October at the box office,” says Comscore’s hea

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