By: Keaton Marcus

Diving into the weekend, we saw DC and WB’s prequel, Joker, which defied both expectations and the month’s opening weekend record, devouring the top box office, and providing light in a franchise that was seemingly getting quiet. Abominable, Downton Abbey and Hustlers continued their performances in second, third and fourth while horror hit It: Chapter Two crossed the 200 million domestic milestone, and rounded out the top five this weekend.

Taking charge of the top charts was DC and WB’s comic-book, big-screen adaptation of Joker which sold a stellar 93.5M in North American sales. Playing in a massive 4,374 sites, the film averaged 21,376 per-screen, an excellent number considering the genre. The film not only ranks as the biggest October debut of all-time, topping 2018’s Venom (80.2M), it also remains the fourth largest R-rated opening ever, as well as giving star Joaquin Phoenix and director Todd Phillips their biggest starts of all-time respectively. Comparatively, the film tops the likes of Halloween (76.2M), Logan (88.4M) and even September’s It: Chapter Two (91M)—while falling just behind Justice League (93.8M). For the domestic close, if we look at the four films above (It: Chapter Two is still in release, so we predict an ending of 225M), we get an average multiplier of nearly 2.4x, which could mean a finish of around 224.4M, however, considering the warm audience reception, we are thinking more like 245M+.

Internationally, things got even better. Hauling in an estimated 140.5M from 73 material markets, Joker has delivered a monster 234M global debut, which ranks as 52nd in the all-time worldwide openings—even besting Venom (204M start, 856M close). The largest opening was a solid 16.3M debut in South Korea, followed by the UK (14.8M), Mexico (13.1M), Russia (10M), Brazil (7.3M), Japan (7M), Italy (6.8M), Australia (6.6M), Indonesia (5.9M), Spain (4.6M), India (3.9M), Taiwan (2.9M) and the United Arab Emirates (2.7M). Of those top markets, 12 of the 13 listed were the largest overseas debuts for a WB film this year. Later this week, the picture will debut in both France and Germany.

Review wise, Joker had some real controversy going around, especially with the whole “madman get’s a gun and starts a riot” idea—however, it still garnered solid reception from the critics, and wealthy feedback from audiences. On RottenTomatoes, the Clown Prince of Crime remains at 70% “Certified Fresh” from a particularly large 411 reviews, while audiences were much less skeptical, handing it a 90% on over 20,000 verified ratings. On Metacritic, things look a little different, with a weighted average of just 58/100 based on 56 top critics. On CinemaScore, it was given a respectable B+. Overall, the population was driven towards Joaquin Phoenix’s performance, and the dark tone—but they also noted the mishandling of gun violence, and its predictability.

In runner-up, last weekend’s champ Abominable, produced by Universal, grossed a sophomore frame of 12M, sliding a reasonable 41.8% from the previous Friday-to-Sunday bout, and tallying a so-so 37.8M in domestic sales after 10 days of theatrical release. Overseas, the 75 million production opened in China with 11.2M, contributing to the 24.6M international bout this weekend, adding to a foreign total of 38.5M and a worldwide total of 76.3M. The film still needs around 160M+ to actually break even.

Climbing down the stairs to third position, we regard Focus Features’ TV adaptation of Downton Abbey, which took an estimated 8M in its third weekend of release, and from here on out, the Crawley’s sum has grown to 73.6M on the big screen. Overseas, the 13 million production pulled another 6.6M internationally, pushing towards a foreign total of 61.8M and a worldwide tally of 135.4M.

After a weekend in second, fifth and third place, STX Entertainment’s Hustlers fell 44.7% to fourth place, earning 6.3M in its fourth weekend. Hustling to a domestic total that now reaches 91.3M, it still remains third in the studio’s all-time North American releases. Overseas, the picture added another 1.9M for a meager overseas gross of 18.7M and a global bout of 110M.

Rounding out the top five was WB (New Line’s) It: Chapter Two which made an estimated 5.3M, dipping 47.7%—and contributing to a domestic total that has now amassed to 202.2M after 31 days of release. This makes it the third R-rated horror film ever to top 200 million in North America. Internationally, the picture inched along to another 5.6M from 78 markets, hence an overseas amount of 234.5M, and a global round-up of 436.7M.

Next weekend, we see three new nationwide releases come into play. First and foremost, the animated reboot of The Addams Family will be released in 3,800+ locations, which comes with a forecast of 20M. Secondly, Will Smith-starring and Ang Lee-directed sci-fi film Gemini Man hopes for male audiences in an estimated 3,500 theaters, along with predictions of 25-30M. Finally, at an estimated 2,300 sites, comedy Jexi is projected for numbers between 5-10M.

TOP FIVE:

Joker
Abominable
Downton Abbey
Hustlers
It Chapter Two