Two very different movies open in theaters on Friday, Oct. 9, and forecasters expect a scary one to come out on top.

Other Mommy, from Universal, stars Jessica Chastain as a mother named Ursula and as the closet creature that copies her. It is now tracking for a $22 million to $29 million opening weekend in the U.S., according to a tracker cited by ComicBasics. That would be the best start for a horror film based on a book since It Chapter Two in 2019. Box Office Theory has a higher range, $28.5 million to $35 million.

The film is based on Josh Malerman's 2024 novel Incidents Around the House. Malerman also wrote Bird Box. Rob Savage directs, James Wan produces, and the film is rated R and runs 93 minutes.

Chastain has done well in this genre before. Her 2013 horror film Mama opened to $28.1 million and was No. 1 that weekend.

The other big opener is The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin's follow-up to The Social Network. Jeremy Strong plays Mark Zuckerberg, and Mikey Madison plays Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. Jeremy Allen White plays Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz. Box Office Theory has it opening between $8 million and $13 million. The Social Network opened to $22.4 million in 2010, SlashFilm noted.

Its first full reviews posted Wednesday morning. Early notices are good but not glowing. The Hollywood Reporter called it sharp entertainment led by Mikey Madison, while saying it doesn't measure up to The Social Network. NME called it a solid follow-up with sharp dialogue that stops short of brilliance. Good word of mouth could help a drama like this keep selling tickets for weeks.

The weekend also tests whether horror can keep its strong 2026 run going. Tracking a few days out often moves, and horror films tend to earn much of their money in the first weekend.

What we know: Both films open Friday, and Other Mommy is the clear favorite.
What we don't: The real totals, which studios report Sunday, and where review scores settle.