Warner Bros.’ Joker won a battle of the supervillains this weekend, selling an estimated $18.9 million in tickets to edge out Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and regain the top spot in North American theaters, an industry group reported Sunday.
The Joaquin Phoenix scarefest slipped from last weekend’s take of $29.2 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period, but still bested the $18.5 million taken in by Maleficent, a dark fantasy from Disney starring Angelina Jolie.
Joker, with Phoenix incarnating Batman’s notorious nemesis, accomplished the rare feat of returning to No. 1 in its fourth week out. It has now taken in an impressive $849.1 million globally, becoming the most successful R-rated movie in history, according to Variety.
With Halloween only days away, scary movies did well overall.
In third spot was The Addams Family from United Artists, at $11.7 million. The computer animation, following the spooky Addams family and some creepy relatives, features the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Snoop Dogg, and Bette Midler.
In fourth, at $11.6 million in its second week out, was Sony’s Zombieland: Double Tap, a comedy starring Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Luke Wilson.
New release Countdown from STX films placed fifth at $9 million. The low-budget horror film tells the tale of a nurse (Elizabeth Lail) who finds an app that predicts exactly when people will die–and learns her own death is only days away.
