⭐ Box Office Top 5 Movies + Trivia, Oct. 7 - 9 ⭐

Parker Finn's "Smile," a horror film starring Sosie Bacon and Kyle Gallner, is box-office champ for a second weekend.

Peter Howell

Movie Critic

Movie box office results for the Oct. 7 - 9 weekend (all amounts US$) plus IMDb trivia:

1. Smile ($17.6M)

— People were seeing the film's signature cursed grin even before the movie was released. Producers with studio Paramount paid for actors to pose at public events with the horrifying smile, such as behind home plate at Major League Baseball games.

2. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile ($11.5M)

— The film is based on a book by Bernard Waber released in 1965, evidently a great year for animal stories for children. Other books released that year include Dr. Seuss' "Fox in Socks," Walt Morey's "Gentle Ben" and Beverly Cleary's "The Mouse and the Motorcycle."

3. Amsterdam ($6.5M)

— Toronto superstar rapper Drake, the film's executive producer, has said his favourite actor is Denzel Washington. That's the father of John David Washington, who along with Christian Bale and Margot Robbie play the film's lead characters, friends in 1933 New York who are drawn into a murder mystery and anti-government conspiracy.

4. The Woman King ($5.3M)

— This drama about Agojie female warriors who protected the West African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s is largely based on historical fact. One important detail isn't: the warriors are volunteers in the film, but in real life women who'd committed adultery or who were considered strong-willed by their husbands or fathers could be forced to join the Agojie.

5. Don't Worry Darling ($3.5M)

— Troubled character Margaret, played by Kiki Layne, was originally supposed to be played by Dakota Johnson. But Johnson had to drop out due to shooting scheduling conflicts with "The Lost Daughter." Johnson may have gotten the better deal; Layne complained on Instagram that many of her "Darling" scenes were cut.

Sources: Box Office Mojo, IMDb.com, Wikipedia