Over the weekend, no one really could guess how high Joker was going to go. Some played it cautious (including yours truly) because of the controversy. However, the buzz won the day, as the film smashed records with a huge $93.5 million launch (strong $21,376 per-venue average). That tops Venom ($80.3 million) for the biggest opening ever in the month of October. Even more impressively, it topped the opening of Logan from a couple years back ($88 million) among R-rated comic book movies. Sold as a prestige pic, Joker brought in a mix of awards season viewers and superhero fans, which really helped its bottom line. Reviews altogether were fairly positive, if not quite awards worthy, while the CinemaScore was a solid "B+". How it plays from here will depend on audience word-of-mouth, as well as if it plays front-loaded similar to other comic book movies. Venom managed to pull in over $200 million stateside, which could very well be a similar case here.Warner Bros. played it safe with the budget here, with the overall budget settling around $60 million. That makes this opening even more impressive. And also impressive is that the film managed to earn huge numbers overseas. With $141 million from many overseas territories, the film pulled in $235 million for its worldwide launch. I would not be surprised if this managed to make it over $500 million worldwide. Warners didn't release any official projections this weekend.
Apparently the presence of Batman's greatest enemy hurt a lot of the holdovers, well most of them. Last weekend's topper, Abominable, came in second with a 42% slide to $12 million. That's not a bad hold, but not a great one either. The animated original tale has pulled in a relatively unimpressive $37.8 million in 10 days, and has to deal with two more PG-rated movies the next two weeks. I'm sure DreamWorks is thankful though that it only cost $75 million to make.
Keeping a hold on older females, Downton Abbey was down 44% in its third frame to $8 million, for a solid $73.6 million in 17 days. It might fall short of $100 million stateside, but I don't think Focus Features will complain. Hustlers was off 45% in its fourth frame to $6.3 million, for a very good $91.3 million in 24 days, as it will likely cross the century mark in the next couple weeks. It: Chapter 2 felt pressure from another R-rated flick, and was off 48% to $5.4 million. However, with $202.2 million in one month of release, it is worth noting that this is the first non-Disney, non-superhero flick to pass the double century mark this year stateside. It's also approaching $450 million worldwide, with its sights set on the half-billion mark.
Ad Astra is getting lost, off 55% in weekend three to $4.6 million. The Brad Pitt space odyssey is at a disappointing $43.7 million in 17 days, and will likely finish just north of $50 million stateside. It has earned $70 million overseas so far, with China yet to open. Staying in seventh place, Judy expanded further and earned another $4.4 million. With $8.9 million in 10 days, Renee Zellweger looks to continue singing for awhile.
Rambo: Last Blood is fading fast, down 59% in weekend three to $3.6 million, for a modest $39.8 million in 17 days with not much to go, and another $25 million overseas. Opening in limited release, international film War managed a very good $1.6 million launch from just 305 locations ($5,184 per-venue average). Rounding out the Top 10 in its eighth week is Good Boys, which fell 57% to $900,000. The R-rated comedy has earned a successful $82 million in 56 days, which is way more than it really had the right to.
And that's about it. Next weekend comes two possible strong contenders. Will Smith stars as two versions of himself in Ang Lee's Gemini Man, while some creepy, kooky people return to the big screen in animated form with The Addams Family. Look for a predictions post on Thursday. :)
