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