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‘Joker’ Stays Atop Box Office, Easily Beating New Releases

The film, starring Joaquin Phoenix in the title role, took in $55 million over the weekend in North American theaters.

‘Joker’ Stays Atop Box Office, Easily Beating New Releases
A still from Joker. (Source: Official Twitter page of Joker Movie)

(Bloomberg) -- “Joker” continues to attract fans in surprising numbers. The Warner Bros. film about the DC Comics super villain outdrew a new Will Smith movie from Paramount Pictures and a new animated family feature to lead the domestic box office for a second week.

‘Joker’ Stays Atop Box Office, Easily Beating New Releases
  • The film, starring Joaquin Phoenix in the title role of the Joker, took in $55.9 million over the weekend in North American theaters, researcher Comscore Inc. said Sunday. Analysts expected $43 million to $45 million. “The Addams Family,” from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and United Artists Releasing, placed second, while “Gemini Man,” featuring Smith in a life-or-death fight with his younger clone, landed in third place.
‘Joker’ Stays Atop Box Office, Easily Beating New Releases

Key Insights

  • With a storyline that looks similar to some real-life mass shootings, “Joker” had sparked concerns about violence. But those worries now look overblown, and the film from AT&T Inc.’s film division has turned into a true global hit, with sales of $548.3 million worldwide, and almost two thirds of that outside the U.S.
  • “The Addams Family,” based on the satirical Charles Addams cartoons from the New Yorker, opened with sales of $30.3 million, more than analysts’ forecasts of up to $29 million. It’s the third feature-length movie to come out of the cartoons, which also spawned a TV series in the 1960s and a 2009 musical.
  • “Gemini Man,” from Viacom Inc.’s film division, opened with sales of $20.6 million, compared with forecasts of $21 million to $22.8 million. The film from director Ang Lee features Smith as an assassin -- and his younger clone, Junior. The movie had been in the works for years but the filmmakers had to wait for enabling technology to catch up, according to the New York Times.
  • One other new movie opened in wide release. “Jexi,” a comedy from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. featuring Rose Byrne, opened with sales of $3.1 million. Box Office Mojo was predicting $3.5 million.
‘Joker’ Stays Atop Box Office, Easily Beating New Releases
‘Joker’ Stays Atop Box Office, Easily Beating New Releases

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To contact the reporter on this story: Hailey Waller in New York at hwaller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum, Kevin Miller

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