| No | Movie Title | Weekend Gross | Overall Gross | Week # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joker | $55,000,000 | $192,728,787 | 2 |
| 2 | The Addams Family | $30,298,000 | $30,298,000 | 1 |
| 3 | Gemini Man | $20,500,000 | $20,500,000 | 1 |
| 4 | Abominable | $6,170,000 | $47,971,350 | 3 |
| 5 | Downton Abbey | $4,900,000 | $82,687,590 | 4 |
| 6 | Hustlers | $3,850,000 | $98,015,339 | 5 |
| 7 | Judy | $3,255,353 | $14,974,204 | 3 |
| 8 | It: Chapter Two | $3,225,000 | $207,135,424 | 6 |
| 9 | Jexi | $3,100,000 | $3,100,000 | 1 |
| 10 | Ad Astra | $1,947,000 | $47,035,432 | 4 |
Joker had some competition this weekend but, really, he didn’t have much competition at all.
Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips’s ode to the Clown Prince of Crime was once again the top film at the North American box office this weekend, bringing in an incredible $55 million in its second weekend. That’s the biggest second weekend in October and pushes the film to a total just shy of $200 million. It’ll definitely cross that threshold in the next few days. It is Phoenix’s biggest movie ever (sorry, Gladiator) and will soon be Phillips and De Niro’s biggest too (sorry The Hangover 2 and Meet the Fockers). Simply put, this movie is a beast. We knew it would be big and it’s certainly delivering in spades. Warner Bros is very, very happy with the response to the movie. It’s a runaway smash at the box office, a (fairly decent) hit with critics and is also connecting with moviegoers. Plus it has a good shot at a slew of awards in the months ahead. This is a huge win for Warner Bros after years of completely bumbling the DC cinematic universe.
Meanwhile, further down on the chart, things are a bit more complicated. The Addams Family slid into second place with an impressive $30,298,000. That’s not as jaw-dropping as other animated movies of late but it is when you consider that modern children don’t know jack about The Addams Family. It’s been a lifetime since the original show aired on TV and has been decades since the still-great live-action films of the 90s. For all intents and purposes this is like launching a brand new independent property for children and they seem to be sold.
Then there’s Gemini Man, the latest from Will Smith and Ang Lee. The script for Gemini Man has been floating around since the 90s and has multiple stars and directors attached at different times. But it was Smith and Lee, two of the biggest names in Hollywood, who finally developed the picture and brought it to the big screen. Alas, the movie didn’t land with audiences, drumming up $20,500,000. For an SFX-heavy film playing in many IMAX theaters and starring Will Smith, that’s not something to brag about. There was a time when a Will Smith film would pull in $20 million in a DAY and now it’s barely managing that over a weekend. It’s not entirely his fault, of course. The movie looked bland and, despite the cool effects, it just didn’t feel as novel or original as Paramount had hoped. It was Old Will Smith versus Young Will Smith and that’s cool and all but the movie felt limp when compared to other big budget effects-driven pictures. Plus the nasty reviews didn’t help Gemini Man’s case. So in the end it was a number of things that caused the film’s lackluster opening. I wouldn’t expect a Gemini Man 2 any time soon.
The rest of the line-up looks about what you’d expect. Abominable fell a few notches thanks to the competition from The Addams Family. Hustlers, Judy and Downton Abbey kept churning out decent business, especially with the more adult crowds. It: Chapter Two slid closer to the bottom of the chart but it’s now on the right side of $200 million, a big feat for a horror film. Then there was the Adam DeVine/Rose Byrne comedy Jexi which limped in at number nine. The film felt like an after-thought before it even debuted but its sad first week total of $3,100,000 proves that no one was in the mood for this one. This is partly due to bad reviews and lack of enthusiasm from audiences but it’s also because the movie was a product of the now-defunct CBS Films, who shuttered as the film was in production. Poor Jexi was doomed from the get-go.
Next weekend sees the return of both Maleficent and Zombieland. Two sequels in one weekend, which one will come out on top? Well, if Joaquin Phoenix has his way neither of them will.
