NEW YORK CITY -- The choices on the movie marquee this weekend included Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, a film about Donald Trump, a âSaturday Night Liveâ origin story and even Pharrell Williams as a Lego. In the end, all were trounced by an ax-wielding clown.
âTerrifier 3,â a gory, low-budget slasher from the small distributor Cineverse, topped the weekend box office with US$18.3 million, according to estimates Sunday. The film, a sequel to 2022âs âTerrifier 2â (US$15 million worldwide in ticket sales), brings back the murderous Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) and lets him loose, under the guise of Santa, at a Christmas party.
That âTerrifier 3â could notably overperform expectations and leapfrog both major studios and awards hopefuls was only possible due to the disaster of âJoker: Folie à Deux.â After Todd Phillipsâ âJokerâ sequel, starring Phoenix and Lady Gaga, got off to a much-diminished start last weekend (and a âDâ CinemaScore from audiences), the Warner Bros. release fell a staggering 81 per cent in its second weekend, bringing in just US$7.1 million.
For a superhero film, such a drop has little precedent. Disappointments like âThe Marvels,â âThe Flashâ and âShazam Fury of the Godsâ all managed better second weekends. Such a mass rejection by audiences and critics is particularly unusually for a follow-up to a massive hit like 2019âs âJoker.â That film, also from Phillips and Phoenix, grossed more than US$1 billion worldwide against a US$60 million budget.
The sequel was pricier, costing about US$200 million to make. That means âJoker: Folie à Deuxâ is headed for certain box-office disaster. Globally, itâs collected US$165.3 million in ticket sales.
âThis is an outlier of a weekend if ever there was one,â said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. âIf you had asked anyone a month ago or even a week ago: Would âTerrifier 3â be the number one movie amongst all these major-studio films and awards contenders? To have a movie like this come along just shows you that the audience is the ultimate arbiter of what wins at the box office.â
The âJokerâ slide allowed âThe Wild Robot,â the acclaimed Universal Pictures and DreamWorks animated movie, to take second place in its third weekend with US$13.4 million. Strong reviews for Chris Sandersâ adaptation of Peter Brownâs book have led the movie, with Lupita Nyongâo voicing the robot protagonist, to US$83.7 million domestically and US$148 million worldwide.
The young Donald Trump film âThe Apprentice,â distributed by Briarcliff Entertainment in 1,740 theaters, opened in a distant 10th place, managing a paltry US$1.6 million in ticket sales. While expectations werenât much higher, audiences still showed little enthusiasm for an election-year origin story of the Republican nominee.
If headlines translated to ticket sales, Ali Abbasiâs film might have done better. âThe Apprentice,â starring Sebastian Stan as Trump under the mentorship of Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), has been making news since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, up to its last-minute release just weeks before the election. The Trump campaign has called the movie âelection interference by Hollywood elites.â
Abbasiâs film, set in the 1970s and 1980s, tested moviegoerâs appetite for a political film in an election year. Major studios and specialty labels passed on acquiring it in part because of the question of whether a movie about Trump would turn off both liberal and conservative moviegoers, alike. âThe Apprenticeâ will depend on continued awards conversation for Strong and Stan to make a significant mark in theatres before voters turn out at the polls.
Jason Reitmanâs âSaturday Nightâ failed to ignite its nationwide expansion. The film, with an ensemble cast led by Gabriel LaBelleâs Lorne Michaels, collected US$3.4 million from 2,288 locations. The Sony Pictures release, about the backstage drama as the NBC sketch comedy show is about to air for the first time in 1975, will likely need to make more of an impact with audiences to carry it through awards season.
âPiece by Piece,â a Pharrell Williams documentary-biopic hybrid animated in Lego form, had also been hoping to click better with moviegoers. The acclaimed Focus Features release, directed by veteran documentarian Morgan Neville (â20 Feet From Stardom,â âWonât You Be My Neighbor?â), opened with US$3.8 million from 1,865 theatres.
But the debut for âPiece By Piece,â while low for a Lego animated movie, was very high for a documentary. âPiece By Piece,â which had the weekendâs best CinemaScore, an âAâ from audiences, could play well for weeks to come. The film, which was modestly budgeted at US$16 million, is also likely to end up the yearâs highest grossing doc â if âPiece by Pieceâ can be called that.
âWe Live in Time,â the weepy drama starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, had one of the yearâs best per-theatre averages in its five-screen opening. The A24 release, which will expand nationwide next weekend, debuted with US$255,911 and a US$51,000 per-screen average.
Outside of the success of Warner Bros.â âBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceâ (which pulled in US$7.1 million in its six weekends of release despite recently launching on video-on-demand), Hollywoodâs fall has struggled to get going. Low-budget horror, like âTerrifier 3,â continues to be one good bet in theatres, but this autumn has been mostly characterized by bombs like âJoker: Folie à Deuxâ and âMegalopolis.â
This time last year, Taylor Swift was giving the box office a massive lift with âThe Eras Tour.â This weekend compared with the same time last year was down 45 per cent according to Comscore.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. âTerrifier 3,â US$18.3 million.
2. âThe Wild Robot,â US$13.5 million.
3. âJoker: Folie à Deux,â US$7.1 million.
4. âBeetlejuice Beetlejuice,â US$7.1 million.
5. âPiece by Piece,â US$3.8 million.
6. âTransformers One,â US$3.7 million.
7. âSaturday Night,â US$3.4 million.
8. âMy Hero Academia: Youâre Next,â US$3 million.
9. âNightmare Before Christmas,â US$2.3 million.
10. âThe Apprentice,â US$1.6 million.