LOS ANGELES 鈥� The first weekend was no fluke: 鈥淛oker鈥� is a hit.
The R-rated comic book villain origin story had a phenomenal second weekend at the box office, topping the charts once more over newcomers such as the animated 鈥淭he Addams Family鈥� and the Will Smith action pic 鈥淕emini Man.鈥�
Warner Bros. said Sunday that 鈥淛oker鈥� added an estimated $55 million from North American theatres this weekend, bringing its domestic total to $192.7 million.
Not only are the pure grosses impressive, but 鈥淛oker鈥� also dropped only 43% from its record-breaking debut.
For comic book films, which are often front-loaded and regularly see second weekend falls that are over 50%, it鈥檚 a notably small dip. It鈥檚 also a slightly lower drop than 鈥淲onder Woman鈥� and 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� 鈥� both of which had higher initial openings and went on to have long lives in theatres.
鈥淭hese are incredible numbers and really reflect how interested and excited people were,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore.
The film had a rollercoaster ride to release, with highs like winning the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, and lows when concerns about the film inciting violence made headlines and prompted increased security at many theatres across the country. But audiences have spoken with their dollars and 鈥渨ere not going to be deterred,鈥� Dergarabedian said.
鈥淚t shows that content wins. A great movie will rise up above all the noise over whatever controversy or security concerns there were,鈥� he added. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e totally left out of the water cooler conversation if you haven鈥檛 seen 鈥楯oker.鈥濃��
Internationally, 鈥淛oker鈥� added $123.7 million from 79 markets, bringing its global total to $543.9 million after just 12 days in theatres.
鈥淛oker鈥檚鈥� second weekend success played well alongside the counterprogramming of the kid-friendly 鈥淎ddams Family,鈥� which exceeded expectations and came in a strong second with $30.3 million.
United Artists Releasing distributed the film from MGM and BRON Creative that features the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron and Bette Midler. 鈥淭he Addams Family鈥� defied middling reviews (43% on Rotten Tomatoes) and benefited from a marketplace with relatively few family friendly options in theatres right now, aside from 鈥淎bominable鈥� which is now in its third weekend.
The ambitious, star-driven 鈥淕emini Man鈥� was not so lucky. The visual effects-heavy Ang Lee film about an assassin on the run from a younger version of himself (both played by Smith using state of the art de-aging technology) opened in third place with only $20.5 million. Even Smith鈥檚 disastrous 鈥淎fter Earth鈥� had a better debut ($27.5 million).
Reviews were overwhelmingly poor (it鈥檚 currently at 26% on Rotten Tomatoes) but 鈥淕emini Man鈥� also had the 鈥淛oker鈥� factor to contend with, which may have contributed to the disappointing opening, according to Dergarabedian.
鈥淕emini Man鈥� was not a cheap endeavour either. The film from Paramount and Skydance cost a reported $140 million to make after rebates and will have a difficult time breaking even.
Rounding out the top five were 鈥淎bominable,鈥� with $6.2 million, and 鈥淒ownton Abbey,鈥� with $4.9 million.
In limited release, Bong Joon-Ho鈥檚 鈥淧arasite鈥� had an extraordinary weekend, earning $376,264 from only 3 locations. Its $125,421 per theatre average is a record for 2019.
鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing how well (鈥漃arasite鈥�) did. It鈥檚 one of the biggest stories of the weekend,鈥� Dergarabedian said. 鈥淭hat per theatre average means that those movie theatres were full. The demand far outweighed the supply.鈥�
Neon is distributing the class-conscious Korean thriller, which won the Palme d鈥橭r at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and is already a massive hit internationally, with over $70.9 million from South Korea alone. With near-unanimous rave reviews, 鈥淧arasite鈥� is also expected to be an awards contender and will be expanding in North America in the coming weeks.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1.鈥淛oker,鈥� $55 million.
2.鈥淭he Addams Family,鈥� $30.3 million.
3.鈥淕emini Man,鈥� $20.5 million.
4.鈥淎bominable,鈥� $6.2 million.
5.鈥淒ownton Abbey,鈥� $4.9 million.
6.鈥淗ustlers,鈥� $3.9 million.
7.鈥淛udy,鈥� $3.3 million.
8.鈥淚t: Chapter Two,鈥� $3.2 million.
9.鈥淛exi,鈥� $3.1 million.
10.鈥淎d Astra,鈥� $1.9 million.
