There’s a new clown in charge at the box office. As Warner Bros.’ ‘Joker: Folie a Deux” is spiraling down the charts with a stunning 82% drop from its $37.8 million opening weekend, Cineverse/Bloody Disgusting’s “Terrifier 3” has parlayed the infamous Art the Clown’s growing fanbase into the horror series’ first No. 1 opening.
Released in 2,514 locations, “Terrifier 3” earned $8.1 million on its opening day, including $2.5 million from Thursday previews, putting it on track for a $16 million weekend. That blows past the entire $10.6 million theatrical run of “Terrifier 2” two years ago.
Even if the unrated horror film sees a significant second weekend drop between its limited audience and competition from Paramount’s “Smile 2,” “Terrifier 3” is already theatrically profitable given its paltry combined production and marketing spend of $2.5 million. Driving hype largely through word-of-mouth among gorehounds who saw the previous two installments, “Terrifier 3” has become a can’t-miss film for those who want to see how much bloodshed they can take in a slasher film.
“Joker 2,” meanwhile, could fall as far as fourth place on this week’s charts with an industry estimated $6.8 million second weekend. That is not only behind Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot” but also neck-and-neck with Warner Bros.’ own “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which is now set to become Warner’s top domestic grosser this year with $7.1 million in its sixth weekend and $275 million overall.
With just $51.3 million for its estimated 10-day domestic total, “Folie a Deux” has earned roughly a quarter of the $193.5 million that the first “Joker” earned to this point in its theatrical run in 2019.
“The Wild Robot,” meanwhile, dropped just 27% in its third weekend, continuing to ride its widespread acclaim and status as the only animated family film in theaters to a $100 million-plus domestic run with $84 million grossed in North America so far.
Paramount’s “Transformers One” completes the top 5 with $3.7 million in its fourth weekend and a domestic total just shy of $53 million. It currently stands just ahead of Focus Features’ “Piece By Piece,” Morgan Neville’s Lego stop-motion documentary about the life and career of Pharrell Williams, which is opening to $3.5 million from 1,865 theaters.
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