Joaquin Phoenix is king of the North American box office once again as “Joker”scores an easy victory in its second weekend with $ 55 million at 4, 374 sites.
“Joker” dominated a trio of new entries with animated comedy “The Addams Family” leading the rest of pack with $ 3 million at 4, 007 venues, topping forecasts. Will Smith’s “Gemini Man” wound up under expectations with $ 20 .5 million at 3, 642 locations. Adam DeVine’s artificial intelligence comedy “Jexi” generated little interest with $ 3.1 million at 2 , 332 screens.
“Joker” showed plenty of traction, declining only 43% from its impressive opening of $ 96 .2 million, the fifth-largest domestic launch of 2019 despite worries about the negative impact of the film’s darker themes. Moviegoers have stayed strongly engaged with a 10 – day total of more than $ 192 million.
The psychological thriller has already become hugely profitable for Warner Bros., which partnered with Village Roadshow and Bron on the $ 55 million project. And with a solid international performance of $ 351 million, “Joker” has hit $ 543 million at the worldwide box office in less than two weeks.
“The Addams Family,” handled through MGM’s United Artists Releasing, had been projected to earn $ 21 million to $ 27 million. The PG film, which has been marketed toward family audiences, follows Morticia, Gomez, Wednesday, Pugsley and Uncle Fester as they bring their love of the macabre to 21 st century life in New Jersey.
Pre-release forecasts had placed “Gemini Man”between $ 24 million and $ 29 million, but competition from “Joker” plus downbeat reviews – the film currently sits at 26% on Rotten Tomatoes – yielded a disappointing result, given the $ 138 million price tag for Paramount, Skydance Media, Fosun and Alibaba. The film follows Will Smith who battles a younger clone of himself, which director Ang Lee achieved through hyperrealistic visuals.
“Jexi” opened at the lower end of modest expectations. Adam DeVine stars as a man addicted to his phone, whose life changes thanks to a digital life coach named Jexi. The movie is the last theatrical release by CBS Films before it’s absorbed into CBS Corporation’s Entertainment Group.
The top two films continue the recent trend of solid overall performances in North America, according to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with Comscore.
“’Joker’ continues to enthrall audiences, spark conversation and generate interest as reflected by a very modest drop of 43% in its second weekend, ”he said. “‘ The Addams Family ’found favor with family audiences that were excited by the Halloween season friendly and nostalgia generating animated film.”
More to come…
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“Joker” is showing impressive traction internationally with a second weekend of $ 123 million on 24, 149 screens in 79 markets – a holdover decline of just 29%. Joaquin Phoenix’s psychological thriller has totaled $ 351 2 million outside North America after only 12 days in release. And with $ 192 million in domestic grosses, “Joker” has now topped $ 543 […]
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Joaquin Phoenix is king of the North American box office once again as “Joker” scores an easy victory in its second weekend with $ 55 million at 4, 374 sites . “Joker” dominated a trio of new entries with animated comedy “The Addams Family” leading the rest of pack with $ 30 .3 million at 4, 007 venues, topping forecasts. Will […]
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Veteran French director Bertrand Tavernier (“Round Midnight”) – president and director of the Institut Lumière and Lumière Festival, which he co-manages with Cannes’ Thierry Frémaux – has played a pivotal role in restoring classic French films and defending the importance of French directors, such as Claude Autant Lara, Henri Decoin and André Cayatte, who were […]
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“Philharmonia,” a French thriller series set in the world of a national orchestra, has been acquired in English-speaking territories from Lagardere Studios Distribution. “Philharmonia,” which was created and co-written by Marine Gacem, has been acquired by First Look Media’s Topic for SVOD rights in the U.S., and Walter Presents for the U.K. and Australia. “Philharmonia” […]
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LYON – The 11 th Lumière Festival in Lyon, France, opened on Saturday with a celebration of its 10 – year anniversary, a tribute to past Lumière Award recipients, and rousing standing ovations for Frances McDormand and Donald Sutherland, who are among the high-profile actors and filmmakers being feted this year. Dedicated to heritage cinema, the festival was […]
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SAG-AFTRA has signed a cooperative agreement that could include joint bargaining with the Asociación Nacional de Actores (ANDA), the labor union that represents performers in Mexico. The pact was announced Saturday during the third day of the SAG-AFTRA biannual convention at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Ca. The convention, which is closed to […]
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Bob Geldof and the re-formed Boomtown Rats will talk about their legendary punk band in a new feature doc, “Boomtown.” It is one of the first two films from a new music producer-distributor that has been formed by Beyond Entertainment and TNC Media – BeyondTNC. BeyondTNC will be launching “Boomtown” to international buyers in Cannes, […]
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