NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 The choices on the movie marquee this weekend included Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, a film about Donald Trump, a 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥 origin story and even Pharrell Williams as a Lego. In the end, all were trounced by an ax-wielding clown.
鈥淭errifier 3,鈥 a gory, low-budget slasher from the small distributor Cineverse, topped the weekend box office with $18.3 million, according to estimates Sunday. The film, a sequel to 2022sa国际传媒 鈥淭errifier 2鈥 ($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 鈥淭errifier 3鈥 could notably overperform expectations and leapfrog both major studios and awards hopefuls was only possible due to After Todd Phillips鈥 鈥淛oker鈥 sequel, starring Phoenix and Lady Gaga, got off to a much-diminished start last weekend (and a 鈥淒鈥 CinemaScore from audiences), the Warner Bros. release fell a staggering 81% in its second weekend, bringing in just $7.1 million.
For a superhero film, such a drop has little precedent. Disappointments like 鈥淭he Marvels,鈥 鈥淭he Flash鈥 and 鈥淪hazam Fury of the Gods鈥 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 2019sa国际传媒 鈥淛oker.鈥 That film, also from Phillips and Phoenix, grossed more than $1 billion worldwide against a $60 million budget.
The sequel was pricier, costing about $200 million to make. That means 鈥淛oker: Folie 脿 Deux鈥 is headed for certain box-office disaster. Globally, itsa国际传媒 collected $165.3 million in ticket sales.
鈥淭his is an outlier of a weekend if ever there was one,鈥 said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淚f you had asked anyone a month ago or even a week ago: Would 鈥楾errifier 3鈥 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.鈥
The 鈥淛oker鈥 slide allowed the acclaimed Universal Pictures and DreamWorks animated movie, to take second place in its third weekend with $13.4 million. Strong reviews for Chris Sanders鈥 adaptation of Peter Brownsa国际传媒 book have led the movie, with Lupita Nyong鈥檕 voicing the robot protagonist, to $83.7 million domestically and $148 million worldwide.
The young Donald Trump film 鈥淭he Apprentice,鈥 distributed by Briarcliff Entertainment in 1,740 theaters, opened in a distant 10th place, managing a paltry $1.6 million in ticket sales. While expectations weren鈥檛 much higher, audiences still showed little enthusiasm for an election-year origin story of the Republican nominee.
If headlines translated to ticket sales, Ali Abbasisa国际传媒 film might have done better. 鈥淭he Apprentice,鈥 , has been making news since up to its last-minute release just weeks before the election. The 鈥渆lection interference by Hollywood elites.鈥
Abbasisa国际传媒 film, set in the 1970s and 1980s, tested moviegoersa国际传媒 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. 鈥淭he Apprentice鈥 will depend on continued awards conversation for Strong and Stan to make a significant mark in theaters before voters turn out at the polls.
Jason Reitmansa国际传媒 鈥淪aturday Night鈥 failed to ignite its nationwide expansion. The film, with an ensemble cast led by Gabriel LaBellesa国际传媒 Lorne Michaels, collected $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.
鈥淧iece by Piece,鈥 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 (鈥20 Feet From Stardom,鈥 鈥淲on鈥檛 You Be My Neighbor?鈥), opened with $3.8 million from 1,865 theaters.
But the debut for 鈥淧iece By Piece,鈥 while low for a Lego animated movie, was very high for a documentary. 鈥淧iece By Piece,鈥 which had the weekendsa国际传媒 best CinemaScore, an 鈥淎鈥 from audiences, could play well for weeks to come. The film, which was modestly budgeted at $16 million, is also likely to end up the yearsa国际传媒 highest grossing doc 鈥 if 鈥淧iece by Piece鈥 can be called that.
鈥淲e Live in Time,鈥 had one of the yearsa国际传媒 best per-theater averages in its five-screen opening. The A24 release, which will expand nationwide next weekend, debuted with $255,911 and a $51,000 per-screen average.
Outside of the success of Warner Bros.鈥 鈥淏eetlejuice Beetlejuice鈥 (which pulled in $7.1 million in its six weekends of release despite recently launching on video-on-demand), Hollywoodsa国际传媒 fall has struggled to get going. Low-budget horror, like 鈥淭errifier 3,鈥 continues to be one good bet in theaters, but this autumn has been mostly characterized by bombs like 鈥淛oker: Folie 脿 Deux鈥 and
This time last year, Taylor Swift was with 鈥淭he Eras Tour.鈥 This weekend compared with the same time last year was down 45% according to Comscore.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淭errifier 3,鈥 $18.3 million.
2. 鈥淭he Wild Robot,鈥 $13.5 million.
3. 鈥淛oker: Folie 脿 Deux,鈥 $7.1 million.
4. 鈥淏eetlejuice Beetlejuice,鈥 $7.1 million.
5. 鈥淧iece by Piece,鈥 $3.8 million.
6. 鈥淭ransformers One,鈥 $3.7 million.
7. 鈥淪aturday Night,鈥 $3.4 million.
8. 鈥淢y Hero Academia: You鈥檙e Next,鈥 $3 million.
9. 鈥淣ightmare Before Christmas,鈥 $2.3 million.
10. 鈥淭he Apprentice,鈥 $1.6 million.
