Pakistan, Oct. 21 -- Blum House Productions is finally seeing a bright spot this year with Scott Derrickson's Black Phone 2 delivering an impressive $26.5 million opening weekend, surpassing expectations and outperforming the original film's debut by nearly $3 million.

The horror sequel has grossed $42 million worldwide against a modest $million budget, providing a much-needed boost for Jason Blum's Universal-backed company after a tough run of releases.

The success of Black Phone 2 comes following a string of underperformers, including Wolf Man and the highly disappointing M3GAN 2.0. Critics praised the sequel as "another vicious treat, complete with a chilly and gory showdown on ice", a sentiment that audiences appear to share.

In co...