“Terrifier 3,” from indie studio Cineverse and Icon Events, earned an estimated US$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 US$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’s “Joker” film, a dark musical Batman spinoff, suffering a huge 80% drop, from last weekend’s US$40 million to US$7.1 million – a stunning result for a film with a budget close to US$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 US$7.0 million. Michael Keaton again plays the back-from-the-dead title character.
And in fifth, at US$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 US$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” (US$3.7 million)
- “Saturday Night” (US$3.4 million)
- “My Hero Academia: You’re Next” (US$3 million)
- “The Nightmare Before Christmas (reissue): (US$2.3 million)
- “The Apprentice” (US$1.6 million)