Last weekend, four new films opened, with “Terminator: Dark Fate” claiming the top spot with $29,033,832. While good enough for first, it came in nearly $10 million behind what it was projected to make over the weekend.
“Dark Fate” is the sixth film in the “Terminator” franchise which kicked off with 1984’s “The Terminator.” Looking at the franchise’s opening weekends, “Dark Fate” finds itself in fourth, barely edging out the previous film, “Genisys,” with $27,018,486. The all-time opening is “Rise of the Machines,” the third film in franchise, which opened to $44,041,440 back in 2003. The lone film to not include Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Salvation,” racked up $42,558,390 in second, then in third is the most beloved, “Judgement Day” earning $31,756,506. However, when adjusting for inflation, the majority of these films would blow “Dark Fate” out of the water. “Dark Fate” earned a B+ CinemaScore which is on par with franchise average as only “Judgement Day” earned different; an A+.
“Joker” holds in second place adding another $13,500,116 to its domestic total. Having already become the top R rated worldwide grossing film in history, the clown prince of crime is looking to top the domestic list. The film currently sits in sixth trailing “Passion of the Christ,” “Deadpool,” “American Sniper,” “IT” and “Deadpool 2.” It would only need around $24 million to crack the top 5 and beat “Deadpool 2.” The film dropped only 29.9% in its fifth week of release.
As mentioned, even with the disappointing opening, “Dark Fate,” tops the domestic top five. “Joker” has a great hold at second place. However, dropping from its two-week top spot down to third is “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.” “Mistress of Evil” finally passed the first week total of its predecessors, “Maleficent,” dropping 32.4% and racking in $13,090,680. This weekend biggest gainer was “Harriet,” which came into the weekend with projections of around $8 million. However, it ran away with $11,676,720, thanks to great word of mouth, which also helped it garner the coveted A+ CinemaScore. Rounding up the top five in the films fourth week of release is the animated “The Addams Family (2019).” The creepy and kooky family continues to have great week to week holds, this week dropping only 30.9% to earn $8,296,007.
Outside the top five, another new film this weekend opened in tenth setting an all-time record, just not one to boast about. “Arctic Dogs” opened in 2,844 theaters only earning $2,901,335 for the weekend. That is the eighth worst opening weekend of all-time for a film opening in at least 2,000 theaters. The worst all time was 2017’s “Friend Request” which earned just $2,002,863 in 2,573 theaters.
In the tenth weekend of the Fall Box Office season, “Joker” continues to reign, adding even more to its domestic total. In five weeks, DC’s clown has made $299,187,108. “IT Chapter Two” continues to trail “Joker” in second earning $211,278,349 in nine weeks as it nears the end of its domestic run. “Hustlers” sits in third with $104,300,244 while “Downton Abbey” trails just behind sitting at $94,479,875. The T.V. show adaptation has a chance to cross the $100 million mark, but may fall just short. Up to fifth is the “Mistress of Evil” racking up $85,240,391 in three weeks. After a disappointing opening, the film has held well week to week, good enough to pass another family film, “The Addams Family (2019)” which spent one week in the top five but sits comfortably in sixth with $85,092,007 to its name. “Zombieland: Double Tap” emerges into seventh pumping out $59,381,788 and edging out the animated “Abominable,” which has earned $58,478,245. Down to ninth is “Ad Astra” with a total of $49,658,397 near the end of its journey after seven weeks. Re-entering the top ten is “Gemini Man” as the Will Smith film is up to $46,880,452 after four weeks. That knocks “Rambo: Last Blood” off of the list. The Sylvester Stallone starring film spent six weeks in the top ten and has earned $44,691,391 after seven weeks.
Next weekend keeps the trend going as it is another busy one. Five new films open wide; the Ewan McGregor “Shining” sequel, “Doctor Sleep” is projected to open on top while the War World 2 action drama “Midway,” the romantic comedy “Last Christmas,” the Nickelodeon family comedy “Playing with Fire,” and Chinese film, “Better Days” all look to compete for audiences.
Check back next week to see if “Doctor Sleep” can find the shine and rise to the top of the domestic charts of if any of the other four new release can pull a “Harriet” and run over projections and steal the top spot.
