‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ tops ‘Joker’ to win box office

LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Co.’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” knocked “Joker” out of the No. 1 spot at the box office, but just barely.

Studios on Sunday say the film starring Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning grossed an estimated $36 million in North America and $117 million internationally in its first weekend in theaters. The first film had a much stronger domestic showing, opening to nearly $70 million domestically in 2014, and the sequel was expected to earn more stateside.

Although it fell to second place after two weekends at the top, Warner Bros.’ “Joker” continues to hold strong at the box office. It added $29.2 million in its third weekend in North America. The villain origin story has grossed over $247 million domestically. Worldwide, it’s earned $737.5 million, and has already surpassed the lifetime grosses of “Justice League” and “Suicide Squad.”

The question is whether the R-rated film will make it to $1 billion, but with a $55 million production budget, it’s already a massive hit for the studio and will likely also become director Todd Phillips’ highest-grossing film too.

Third place went to another new sequel, Columbia Pictures’ “Zombieland: Double Tap” with $26.7 million. The R-rated comedy comes 10 years after the original, reuniting Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Woody Harrelson with director Ruben Fleischer.

“Hustlers” crossed $100 million domestically this weekend. “Parasite,” which opened last weekend, added $1.2 million. This weekend, Taika Waititi’s Nazi satire “Jojo Rabbit” opened in five theaters with a strong $350,000, the black and white Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe mindbender “The Lighthouse” earned $419,764.