This past weekend’s box office results are a real test of one’s outlook. If you’re a “glass half full” kind of analyst, then Terminator: Dark Fate—generally favored by critics and audiences—had a perfectly fine opening weekend. It was the number one movie in the country, drawing in $29 million across 4,086 screens and to some, a win is a win. However, by every other measure, the latest installment of the 35 year-old film franchise was an underperforming mess after falling well below previous projections of $30-40 million—an already low bar to clear for a legacy franchise. This could be further confirmation that the Terminator concept is simply something that once worked, especially if it’s, as ScreenRant reports, on track to lose $120 million. In terms of disappointing opening weekends, Dark Fate isn’t alone: Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn ($3.7 million) and Jeremy Renner’s animated Arctic Dogs ($3.1 million) were also met with little fanfare, landing in ninth and tenth place, respectively. Those blows aren’t nearly as devastating, mind you, but hey.
Second place went to the Joker, which tossed another $13.9 million on top of its almost $300 million domestic gross. There really is not much more to say to that beyond our sincerest hopes that they are having a blast rolling around in their growing mountain of cash. Coming in after a third place Maleficent, which added 30 theaters and $12.1 million in its third week, is the Cynthia Erivo starrer Harriet. The Focus Features biopic exceeded projections with an opening weekend haul of $12 million across 2,059 screens, which is $3 million beyond its previously anticipated best of $9 million. Hanging on at number five with an additional $8.5 million is The Addams Family, which bested the week -younger Zombieland: Double Tap. Now that Halloween is officially over, will the enthusiasm for the seriously spooky suburbanites continue into the new week?
Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite maintained a strong theatrical presence, adding 332 screens and $2.6 million to its domestic gross. Globally, the psychological thriller has pocketed a total cume of $100 million, which is a first for the Snowpiercer filmmaker, per TheWrap. If you still haven’t checked out this year’s most entertaining source of anxiety and need a little push, check out our own A.A. Dowd’s enthusiastic review.
This weekend should be interesting with Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep and the highly lauded Marriage Story hitting theaters. Will either knock Dark Fate from its top spot? Eh, we imagine that it wouldn’t be too hard to do so.
For a more detailed analysis of this weekend’s box office, check out Box Office Mojo.