New indie horror film Terrifier 3 opened atop the North American box office, while last weekend’s leader, Joker: Folie a Deux, suffered a record plunge from its own debut, industry watchers reported Sunday.
Terrifier 3, from indie studio Cineverse and Icon Events, earned an estimated $18.2 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, according to Exhibitor Relations. Analyst David A. Gross called that “an outstanding opening for a third episode in an indie horror series”.
The slasher film has Art the Clown back to spread holiday fear – and plenty of blood and guts – with David Howard Thornton again playing the psychopathic harlequin.
Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot placed second again, at $13.4 million. Lupita Nyong’o voices Roz, a robot stranded on a remote island who is forced to befriend woodland animals to survive.
That left Warner Bros.’ Joker film, a dark musical Batman spinoff, suffering a huge 80 per cent drop, from last weekend’s $40 million to $7.1 million – a stunning result for a film with a budget close to $200 million.
That second-week collapse was the worst ever for a comic book-based movie and one of the biggest for any film, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
In fourth place, down one spot, was another Warner Bros.’ film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, at $7.0 million. Michael Keaton again plays the back-from-the-dead title character.
And in fifth, at $3.8 million, was Focus Features’ new Piece by Piece, a comedy-drama using Lego animation to follow the life of singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams. The all-star voice cast includes Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake and Busta Rhymes.
Meantime, a gritty new film about Donald Trump, The Apprentice, detailing his early rise in New York, had a weak opening, placing 10th with $1.6 million. Trump had threatened to try to block the release over its often-unflattering depiction. Sebastian Stan plays Trump.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
Transformers One ($3.7 million)
Saturday Night ($3.4 million)
My Hero Academia: You’re Next ($3 million)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (reissue): ($2.3 million)
The Apprentice ($1.6 million)