As of now, its Warner Bros. back on top with their supervillain phenomenon Joker. The R-rated DC flick held very well in its fourth weekend, off just 35% to $18.9 million. In 24 days, the baddie has gotten away with a huge $277.6 million worth of business. Pulling in awards season buzz as well as DC fans, Joker is surprisingly playing similarly to last year's Aquaman, which went on to earn $330 million domestic. If Joker can maintain its momentum, I would not be surprised if it ended up a similar arena. But, even more impressive is overseas, where it has pulled in $850 million worldwide in four weeks, and that's without the help of China (which likely won't release it). If that's not considered one of the year's biggest accomplishments, I don't know what is. If Joker makes it past the $1 billion mark, it will be the first non-Disney, non-Marvel film to pass that barrier this year (and the first R-rated movie in history to do so too).
That leaves Maleficent: Mistress of Evil in the second spot, but its' close enough that they could switch places by the time actuals are revealed Monday. Down 50% in its sophomore frame, the fantasy flick earned $18.5 million, for a much more modest $65.4 million gross in 10 days. Angelina Jolie's sequel is running way behind the original, which had pulled in $128 million through its' 10th day. However, it is being saved overseas, with the worldwide gross already at $275 million through the same amount of time. It looks like its on track for a final gross in the $400-450 million range.
With Halloween approaching, families also flocked to The Addams Family. The animated flick held very well in its third frame, off just 28% to $11.7 million and jumping up to third place (narrowly in estimates). In 17 days, the hit has earned $72.8 million stateside, and will hope to get to the century mark if it can maintain families beyond the spooky holiday.
Zombieland: Double Tap followed and didn't have a good sophomore hold. The sequel to the cult classic plummeted 57% to $11.6 million, for a still pretty good $47 million gross in 10 days. That's exactly the same amount as the original Zombieland had by the end of its' second frame. We will see how it will play beyond this weekend.
The first newcomer landed in fifth place, and ended up earning more than expected. Horror flick Countdown pulled in a solid $9 million (mild $3,368 per-venue average), ahead of the $5-7 million expected. Thanks to an app that spread awareness over social media and phones, Countdown was able to successfully bring in teenagers (it was a PG-13 offering). Distributor STX produced the flick for a light $6.5 million, which means this should at least break even. Reviews weren't too good, however, and audiences gave the film a lukewarm "C+" CinemaScore. Halloween should bring out extra viewers, but ultimately this probably won't play well beyond then.
Also overperforming in sixth place was the police drama Black and Blue. Sony worked hard to market this film and make it work, and they succeeded a little bit, with an $8.3 million launch in sixth place (moderate $4,037 per-venue average in a lower theater count than its competition). That's also ahead of the $5-6 million expected. For a movie with a $12 million budget, that's also good news. Being a drama not centered around topics related to Halloween may also be good news for it. Reviews were mixed, while no CinemaScore was registered.
Gemini Man continued its disappointing run in seventh place, down 52% to $4 million. Ang Lee and Will Smith's pricey sci-fi gamble has earned just $43.3 million in 17 days, along with just $150 million worldwide so far.
Expanding to nearly 600 locations, The Lighthouse broke into the Top 10. The black-and-white horror drama managed a solid $3.1 million (moderate $5,261 per-venue average). The possible awards season contender could potentially be a dark horse player over the next few weeks into Thanksgiving.
The other new wide release, The Current War (releasing in a director's cut), failed to pull in attention. The historical drama opened in just over 1,000 locations and pulled in just $2.7 million (weak $2,671 per-venue average). Originally scheduled for 2017, the 101 Studios release was originally scrapped due to being caught in the middle of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. As unfortunate as that was, expectations never seemed high for this one, despite generally positive reviews from critics.
Rounding out the Top 10 was Abominable, which continues to underperform. The DreamWorks Animation flick was down 43% to $2 million, for a disappointing $56.8 million in one month of release (along with $150 million worldwide). Thankfully the budget was much smaller than most major animated films these days (at $75 million).
That's about it. Next week, the holiday movie season begins with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton in Terminator: Dark Fate. Also opening are drama Motherless Brooklyn, historical epic Harriett and animated movie Arctic Dogs. I'll have predictions up on Thursday. :) Hope all has a great week!
