NEW YORK — This weekend’s cinema offerings featured a variety of films, including Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker, a narrative centered around Donald Trump, the origins of “Saturday Night Live,” and even a Lego-themed story featuring Pharrell Williams. However, the spotlight ultimately belonged to a menacing clown.
“Terrifier 3,” a gritty, independently produced slasher film from Cineverse, dominated the weekend box office with an impressive $18.3 million, based on estimates released on Sunday. As a sequel to 2022’s “Terrifier 2,” which grossed $15 million globally, this latest installment sees the notorious Art the Clown (played by David Howard Thornton) wreak havoc under the guise of Santa at a festive gathering.
The fact that “Terrifier 3” significantly exceeded expectations and outperformed major studio releases and awards contenders can largely be attributed to the poor performance of “Joker: Folie à Deux.” Since its release, the Todd Phillips-directed sequel featuring Phoenix and Lady Gaga started sluggishly, receiving a “D” CinemaScore from audiences. It subsequently plummeted by a staggering 81% in its second weekend, earning a mere $7.1 million.
Such a dramatic decline is unusual for a superhero film. Other recent disappointments like “The Marvels,” “The Flash,” and “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” managed better retention during their second weekends. This level of rejection from both audiences and critics is particularly surprising for a follow-up to the highly successful 2019 film “Joker,” which grossed over $1 billion worldwide on a budget of $60 million.
With a production budget of around $200 million, “Joker: Folie à Deux” is sliding toward a significant box-office failure, having garnered just $165.3 million globally to date.
“This is possibly the most unpredictable weekend we’ve seen in a while,” remarked Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore. “If anyone had predicted a month ago that ‘Terrifier 3’ would emerge as the top film against these major contenders, they would have been laughed at. This outcome illustrates that the audience ultimately determines box office success.”
The decline of “Joker” allowed the animated film “The Wild Robot” from Universal Pictures and DreamWorks to claim the second spot in its third weekend, accumulating $13.4 million. Outstanding reviews for Chris Sanders’ adaptation of Peter Brown’s book have propelled the film, featuring Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of the robot lead, to current domestic earnings of $83.7 million and $148 million globally.
The recent film “The Apprentice,” a narrative about a young Donald Trump, distributed by Briarcliff Entertainment across 1,740 theaters, opened in a disappointing tenth place with only $1.6 million. Although expectations were tempered, audiences showed limited interest in this election-year portrayal of the Republican nominee.
Despite its extensive media coverage, Ali Abbasi’s film might have performed better if the headlines translated into ticket sales. “The Apprentice,” featuring Sebastian Stan as Trump alongside Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, stirred considerable discussion since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, up until its recent release just weeks prior to the election. The Trump campaign denounces the film as an instance of “election interference by Hollywood elites.”
Set against the backdrop of the 1970s and 1980s, Abbasi’s movie sought to gauge audience interest in political narratives during an election year. It faced challenges in securing backing from major studios due to uncertainties surrounding its reception among both liberal and conservative viewers. The film’s fortunes will largely depend on potential awards buzz for Strong and Stan as the election approaches.
Meanwhile, Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” struggled with its wider release, garnering only $3.4 million across 2,288 theaters. This film about the backstage dynamics on NBC’s iconic sketch comedy show as it prepared for its debut in 1975 will need to resonate more with audiences to sustain its relevance through the awards season.
“Piece by Piece,” a unique documentary-biopic hybrid featuring Pharrell Williams crafted in Lego animation, also aimed to captivate viewers. Directed by Morgan Neville, the Focus Features release opened with $3.8 million from 1,865 theaters. While this performance may not be stellar for a Lego film, it is impressive for a documentary, receiving the best CinemaScore of the weekend with an “A” rating from audiences, indicating it may have legs in theaters for some time.
The weepy drama “We Live in Time,” starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, achieved one of the year’s best per-theater averages with a limited release of five screens, recording $255,911 and an average of $51,000 per screen.
As fall sets in, Hollywood continues to grapple with the box office, with notable successes such as Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” — which made $7.1 million over six weekends while just launching on video-on-demand. The season has seen a mix of low-budget horrors like “Terrifier 3” performing well, juxtaposed with major flops such as “Joker: Folie à Deux” and “Megalopolis.”
Reflecting on this time last year, when Taylor Swift significantly boosted the box office with “The Eras Tour,” current figures indicate a 45% drop compared to the same timeframe last year, as per Comscore’s analysis.
Estimated ticket sales for U.S. and Canadian theaters from Friday through Sunday, as reported by Comscore, will be finalized on Monday.
1. “Terrifier 3,” $18.3 million.
2. “The Wild Robot,” $13.5 million.
3. “Joker: Folie à Deux,” $7.1 million.
4. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” $7.1 million.
5. “Piece by Piece,” $3.8 million.
6. “Transformers One,” $3.7 million.
7. “Saturday Night,” $3.4 million.
8. “My Hero Academia: You’re Next,” $3 million.
9. “Nightmare Before Christmas,” $2.3 million.
10. “The Apprentice,” $1.6 million.
“Terrifier 3,” a gritty, independently produced slasher film from Cineverse, dominated the weekend box office with an impressive $18.3 million, based on estimates released on Sunday. As a sequel to 2022’s “Terrifier 2,” which grossed $15 million globally, this latest installment sees the notorious Art the Clown (played by David Howard Thornton) wreak havoc under the guise of Santa at a festive gathering.
The fact that “Terrifier 3” significantly exceeded expectations and outperformed major studio releases and awards contenders can largely be attributed to the poor performance of “Joker: Folie à Deux.” Since its release, the Todd Phillips-directed sequel featuring Phoenix and Lady Gaga started sluggishly, receiving a “D” CinemaScore from audiences. It subsequently plummeted by a staggering 81% in its second weekend, earning a mere $7.1 million.
Such a dramatic decline is unusual for a superhero film. Other recent disappointments like “The Marvels,” “The Flash,” and “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” managed better retention during their second weekends. This level of rejection from both audiences and critics is particularly surprising for a follow-up to the highly successful 2019 film “Joker,” which grossed over $1 billion worldwide on a budget of $60 million.
With a production budget of around $200 million, “Joker: Folie à Deux” is sliding toward a significant box-office failure, having garnered just $165.3 million globally to date.
“This is possibly the most unpredictable weekend we’ve seen in a while,” remarked Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore. “If anyone had predicted a month ago that ‘Terrifier 3’ would emerge as the top film against these major contenders, they would have been laughed at. This outcome illustrates that the audience ultimately determines box office success.”
The decline of “Joker” allowed the animated film “The Wild Robot” from Universal Pictures and DreamWorks to claim the second spot in its third weekend, accumulating $13.4 million. Outstanding reviews for Chris Sanders’ adaptation of Peter Brown’s book have propelled the film, featuring Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of the robot lead, to current domestic earnings of $83.7 million and $148 million globally.
The recent film “The Apprentice,” a narrative about a young Donald Trump, distributed by Briarcliff Entertainment across 1,740 theaters, opened in a disappointing tenth place with only $1.6 million. Although expectations were tempered, audiences showed limited interest in this election-year portrayal of the Republican nominee.
Despite its extensive media coverage, Ali Abbasi’s film might have performed better if the headlines translated into ticket sales. “The Apprentice,” featuring Sebastian Stan as Trump alongside Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, stirred considerable discussion since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, up until its recent release just weeks prior to the election. The Trump campaign denounces the film as an instance of “election interference by Hollywood elites.”
Set against the backdrop of the 1970s and 1980s, Abbasi’s movie sought to gauge audience interest in political narratives during an election year. It faced challenges in securing backing from major studios due to uncertainties surrounding its reception among both liberal and conservative viewers. The film’s fortunes will largely depend on potential awards buzz for Strong and Stan as the election approaches.
Meanwhile, Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” struggled with its wider release, garnering only $3.4 million across 2,288 theaters. This film about the backstage dynamics on NBC’s iconic sketch comedy show as it prepared for its debut in 1975 will need to resonate more with audiences to sustain its relevance through the awards season.
“Piece by Piece,” a unique documentary-biopic hybrid featuring Pharrell Williams crafted in Lego animation, also aimed to captivate viewers. Directed by Morgan Neville, the Focus Features release opened with $3.8 million from 1,865 theaters. While this performance may not be stellar for a Lego film, it is impressive for a documentary, receiving the best CinemaScore of the weekend with an “A” rating from audiences, indicating it may have legs in theaters for some time.
The weepy drama “We Live in Time,” starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, achieved one of the year’s best per-theater averages with a limited release of five screens, recording $255,911 and an average of $51,000 per screen.
As fall sets in, Hollywood continues to grapple with the box office, with notable successes such as Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” — which made $7.1 million over six weekends while just launching on video-on-demand. The season has seen a mix of low-budget horrors like “Terrifier 3” performing well, juxtaposed with major flops such as “Joker: Folie à Deux” and “Megalopolis.”
Reflecting on this time last year, when Taylor Swift significantly boosted the box office with “The Eras Tour,” current figures indicate a 45% drop compared to the same timeframe last year, as per Comscore’s analysis.
Estimated ticket sales for U.S. and Canadian theaters from Friday through Sunday, as reported by Comscore, will be finalized on Monday.
1. “Terrifier 3,” $18.3 million.
2. “The Wild Robot,” $13.5 million.
3. “Joker: Folie à Deux,” $7.1 million.
4. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” $7.1 million.
5. “Piece by Piece,” $3.8 million.
6. “Transformers One,” $3.7 million.
7. “Saturday Night,” $3.4 million.
8. “My Hero Academia: You’re Next,” $3 million.
9. “Nightmare Before Christmas,” $2.3 million.
10. “The Apprentice,” $1.6 million.