‘Joker’ still on top for second straight week
LOS ANGELES » The first weekend was no fluke: “Joker” 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 “The Addams Family” and the Will Smith action pic “Gemini Man.”
Warner Bros. said Sunday that “Joker” added an estimated $55 million from North American theaters this weekend, bringing its domestic total to $192.7 million.
Not only are the pure grosses impressive, but “Joker” also dropped only 43% from its recordbreaking debut.
For comic book films, which are often frontloaded and regularly see second weekend falls that are over 50%, it’s a notably small dip. It’s also a slightly lower drop than “Wonder Woman” and “Black Panther” — both of which had higher initial openings and went on to have long lives in theaters.
“These are incredible numbers and really reflect how interested and excited people were,” 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 theaters across the country. But audiences have spoken with their dollars and “were not going to be deterred,” Dergarabedian said.
“It shows that content wins. A great movie will rise up above all the noise over whatever controversy or security concerns there were,” he added. “You’re totally left out of the water cooler conversation if you haven’t seen ‘Joker.’”
Internationally, “Joker” added $123.7 million from 79 markets, bringing its global total to $543.9 million after just 12 days in theaters.
“Joker’s” second weekend success played well alongside the counterprogramming of the kidfriendly “Addams Family,” which exceeded expectations and came in a strong second with $30.3 million.