‘Terminator’ falls flat in top spot
New installment wins box office with just $29M.
LOS ANGELES – It might be judgment day for the Terminator franchise.
Despite generally favorable reviews and the return of stars Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger and producer James Cameron, “Terminator: Dark Fate” has opened well below expectations at the box office. Studios on Sunday estimate that “Dark Fate” earned only $29 million from more than 4,000 North American theaters. The film cost a reported $185 million to produce.
It was enough to win the top spot at the box office, but it’s a weak victory for the franchise. Although “Dark Fate” received much better reviews (69% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) than 2015’s roundly derided “Terminator: Genisys” and was praised for being a return to form akin to Cameron’s original films, it opened just slightly ahead of that film.
“These big brands carry with them huge expectations, often unrealistic expectations,” says Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “It wasn’t for lack of enthusiasm for the stars and filmmakers.”
Internationally, “Dark Fate” did much better, earning $72.9 million from 48 markets.
Second place went to Joaquin Phoenix’s origin story “Joker,” which added $13.9 million, bringing its global earnings to $934 million in just five weeks in theaters.
“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” landed in third place in its third weekend with an additional $12.2 million. The Angelina Jolie-led sequel has grossed $84.3 million in North America.
One bright spot of the weekend is “Harriet,” the first film ever made about Harriet Tubman. Starring Cynthia Erivo in the title role, “Harriet” performed better than expected, earning $12 million from just over 2,000 theaters to take fourth place. The film scored a coveted A-plus CinemaScore grade from audiences, who were primarily female (62%) and older than 35 (59%). African Americans also made up a significant portion of the audience (49%), according to exit polls.
“It’s really heartwarming and gives you a lot of faith that there are still a lot of people who want to see stories about real-life superheroes,” says Focus Features distribution president Lisa Bunnell. “There’s a real feeling of love for this movie. It’s inspirational.”
Other newcomers struggled to find that kind of enthusiasm.
Edward Norton’s adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s “Motherless Brooklyn” opened in ninth place to $3.7 million, while the animated “Arctic Dogs” took 10th with $3.1 million.
One of the weekend’s highest-profile new films, Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” doesn’t have any box-office numbers to report, however, because Netflix declines to provide numbers for its theatrical releases. Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, the film, which is in limited release before hitting Netflix on Nov. 27, is expected to be a major Oscar contender.
Final numbers are expected Monday.