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Box Office Weekend – ‘Terminator’ in for a ‘Dark Fate’

by · November 5, 2019

Box Office
In the past two weekends at the box office, Joker and Maleficent held over well, while Terminator: Dark Fate unfortunately flopped.

 

The latest Terminator movie, Dark Fate, had a depressingly prophetic subtitle as far as the box office is concerned. The movie opened to a dismal $29M opening weekend across over 4,000 theaters. Joker continuing to make insane amounts of money and appealing to the R-rated demographic that may have otherwise seen the latest Terminator quasi-reboot did this film no favors. That’s to say nothing of the perception that the other Terminator sequels after Judgment Day; even with critics looking more favorably on this film compared to the other sequels, it seems like the poor reception of Terminator: Genisys and “meh” responses to the other sequels cost the franchise the same sort of goodwill that should have made the adored Transformers spin-off Bumblebee a much larger financial success than what ended up happening. It has not been a great year for sequels that have the word “Dark” in the title; like Dark Phoenix, one of the biggest problems that’s going to lead this movie to lose money is a steep near-$200M pricetag. Other new arrivals that were in for dark fates at the box office include The Current War: Director’s Cut, Motherless Brooklyn, and Arctic Dogs, which all opened to low single-digit millions. Small releases that did well, all things considered, include Black and Blue, Countdown, and Harriet. There were also plenty of independent films that have managed to score well in this time frame, including Neon’s Parasite, A24’s The Lighthouse, and Fox Searchlight’s Jojo Rabbit.

 

As for holdovers as the box office, Warner Bros.’s Joker is now very close to clearing the $300M domestic mark and is looking likely to clear $1B worldwide in the next few weeks, all without playing in China. That’s absolutely remarkable for a slow-burn character piece that’s largely devoid of action, and it goes to show just how much a performance like Joaquin Phoenix’s and a connection (however loose) to a beloved IP can do to sell a film mired in pre-release controversy. Meanwhile, Disney Maleficent has managed to hold on admirably in spite of a slightly disappointing opening weekend, and now it seems likely that it will not only clear $100M domestically, but $400M globally. More good news for holdovers can also be found with Zombieland 2: Double Tap, which is keeping about on-pace with its predecessor in terms of domestic gross, and is performing much better than the original film overseas.Lastly, The Addams Family is on the way to $100M domestic, which should more than justify the sequel that’s already been greenlit.

 

The Top Twelve box office performances for the previous three-day weekend can be summarized as follows (bolded titles are new releases):

  1. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Disney) – $19.369M Weekend/$66.245M Total; 47.6% Drop.
  2. Joker (Warner Bros./DC Films) – $19.248M Weekend/$277.931M Total; 34.2% Drop.
  3. The Addams Family (United Artists Releasing) – $12.006M Weekend/$73.101M Total; 26.4% Drop.
  4. Zombieland 2: Double Tap (Sony Pictures) – $11.817M Weekend/$47.217M Total; 55.9% Drop.
  5. Countdown (STX Entertainment) – $8.865M Total.
  6. Black and Blue (Sony Pictures/Screen Gems) – $8.376M Total.
  7. Gemini Man (Paramount Pictures) – $4.065M Weekend/$43.407M Total; 51.1% Drop.
  8. The Lighthouse (A24) – $3.029M Weekend/$3.61M Total; 608.3% Rise.
  9. The Current War: Director’s Cut (101 Studios) – $2.633M Total.
  10. Abominable (Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Animation) – $2.085M Weekend/$56.903M Total; 40.6% Drop.
  11. Downton Abbey (Universal Pictures/Focus Features) – $1.949M Weekend/$92.256M Total; 37.2% Drop.
  12. Parasite (Neon) – $1.826M Weekend/$4.113M Total; 47.1% Rise.

The Top Twelve box office performances for this three-day weekend can be summarized as follows (bolded titles are new releases):

  1. Terminator: Dark Fate (Paramount Pictures) – $29.033M Total.
  2. Joker (Warner Bros./DC Films) – $13.5M Weekend/$299.187M Total; 29.9% Drop.
  3. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Disney) – $13.09M Weekend/$85.24M Total; 32.4% Drop.
  4. Harriet (Universal Pictures/Focus Features) – $11.676M Total.
  5. The Addams Family (United Artists Releasing) – $8.296M Weekend/$85.092M Total; 30.9% Drop.
  6. Zombieland 2: Double Tap (Sony Pictures) – $7.424M Weekend/$59.381M Total; 37.2% Drop.
  7. Countdown (STX Entertainment) – $5.768M Weekend/$17.684M Total; 34.9% Drop.
  8. Black and Blue (Sony Pictures/Screen Gems) – $4.137M Weekend/$15.529M Total; 50.6% Drop.
  9. Motherless Brooklyn (Warner Bros.) – $3.5M Total.
  10. Arctic Dogs (Entertainment Studios) – $2.901M Total.
  11. Parasite (Neon) – $2.539M Weekend/$7.44M Total; 39% Rise.
  12. Jojo Rabbit (Disney/20th Century Fox/Fox Searchlight) – $2.332M Weekend/$4.217M Total; 123.4% Rise.

Joker, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and Terminator: Dark Fate are now playing in theaters.

 

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