Joker Edging Out Maleficent: Mistress of Evil to Retake Top Spot at Box Office

Joker looks to retake the top spot at the box office this weekend. Last weekend, it ceded that spot to opener Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. Current projections have Joker edging out the Maleficent sequel with $18.7 million. The film’s box office is now $264.1 million at the domestic box office. Joker is directed by Todd Phillips. He co-wrote the film’s screenplay with Scott Silver. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, with Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Bill Camp, Shea Whigham, and Marc Maron. The film stars Phoenix as failed comedian Arthur Fleck as he begins a slow descent into madness, transforming into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil slips into second place with $18.4 million. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is the sequel to 2014’s Maleficent. The film is directed by Joachim Rønning and written by Linda Woolverton, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, and Noah Harpster. The film’s cast includes returning stars Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville with new additions Harris Dickinson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, and Michelle Pfeiffer. In the new film, a formidable queen (Pfeiffer) causes a rift between Maleficent (Jolie) and Princess Aurora (Fanning). Together, they must face new allies and enemies in a bid to protect the magical lands which they share.

Zombieland: Double Tap remains steady in third place. The film is directed by Rueben Fleischer and written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and David Callaham. The sequel to 2009’s Zombieland stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin, and Emma Stone as their characters from the first film, with new additions Rosario Dawson, Zoey Deutch, and Luke Wilson. The film sees zombie slayers Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita and Little Rock square off against the newly evolved undead.

What are you seeing at the box office this weekend? Let us know in the comments and keep reading to see this weekend’s top 10.

1. Joker

Week Four
Friday: $5.46 million
Weekend: $18.7 million
Total: $264.1 million

Forever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City. Arthur wears two masks — the one he paints for his day job as a clown, and the guise he projects in a futile attempt to feel like he’s part of the world around him. Isolated, bullied and disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.

Joker is directed by Todd Phillips. He co-wrote the film’s screenplay with Scott Silver. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, with Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Bill Camp, Shea Whigham, and Marc Maron.

2. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Week Two
Friday: $4.82 million
Weekend: $18.4 million
Total: $51.7 million

A formidable queen causes a rift between Maleficent and Princess Aurora. Together, they must face new allies and enemies in a bid to protect the magical lands which they share.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is the sequel to 2014’s Maleficent. The film is directed by Joachim Rønning and written by Linda Woolverton, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, and Noah Harpster. The film’s cast includes returning stars Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville with new additions Harris Dickinson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

3. Zombieland: Double Tap

Week Two
Friday: $3.375 million
Weekend: $12 million
Total: $38.8 million

Zombie slayers Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita and Little Rock square off against the newly evolved undead.

Zombieland: Double Tap is directed by Ruben Fleischer and written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and David Callaham. The sequel to 2009’s Zombieland stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin, and Emma Stone as their characters from the first film, with new additions Rosario Dawson, Zoey Deutch, and Luke Wilson.

4. The Addams Family

Week Three
Friday: $4.1 million
Weekend: $10 million
Total: $71 million

Members of the mysterious and spooky Addams family — Gomez, Morticia, Pugsley, Wednesday, Uncle Fester and Grandma — are readily preparing for a visit from their even creepier relatives. But trouble soon arises when shady TV personality Margaux Needler realizes that the Addams’ eerie hilltop mansion is standing in the way of her dream to sell all the houses in the neighborhood.

The Addams Family is based on the comics by Charles Addams. The film is directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan, and stars Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Allison Janney.

5. Countdown

Opening Weekend
Friday: $3.14
Weekend: $8 million

When a nurse downloads an app that claims to predict exactly when a person is going to die, it tells her she only has three days to live. With time ticking away and a figure haunting her, she must find a way to save her life before time runs out.

Countdown is written and directed by Justin Dec and stars Elizabeth Lail, Jordan Calloway, Talitha Bateman, Tichina Arnold, P.J. Byrne, Peter Facinelli, Anne Winters, and Tom Segura.

6. Black and Blue

Opening Weekend
Friday: $3 million
Weekend: $6 million

A rookie policewoman in New Orleans inadvertently captures the shooting death of a young drug dealer on her body cam. After realizing the murder was committed by corrupt cops, she teams up with the only person from the community who’s willing to help her. Now, she finds herself on the run from both the vengeful criminals and the lawmen who desperately want to destroy the incriminating footage.

Black and Blue is directed by Deon Taylor, written by Peter A. Dowling, and stars Naomie Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Frank Grillo, Mike Colter, Reid Scott, and Beau Knapp.

7. Gemini Man

Week Two
Friday: $1.1 million
Weekend: $4.5 million
Total: $40.44 million

Henry Brogan is an elite assassin who becomes the target of a mysterious operative who can seemingly predict his every move. To his horror, he soon learns that the man who’s trying to kill him is a younger, faster, cloned version of himself.

Gemini Man is directed by Ang Lee, written by David Benioff, Billy Ray, and Darren Lemke, and stars Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, and Benedict Wong.

8. The Current Wars: The Director’s Cut

Opening Weekend
Friday: $947,000
Weekend: $2.8 million

Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse — the greatest inventors of the industrial age — engage in a battle of technology and ideas that will determine whose electrical system will power the new century. Backed by J.P. Morgan, Edison dazzles the world by lighting Manhattan. But Westinghouse, aided by Nikola Tesla, sees fatal flaws in Edison’s direct current design. Westinghouse and Tesla bet everything on risky and dangerous alternating current.

The Current War is directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, written by Michael Mitnick, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Holland, Katherine Waterston, Tuppence Middleton, and Matthew Macfadyen.

9. Abominable

Week Five
Friday: $480,000
Weekend: $2.1 million
Total: $55.3 million

After discovering a Yeti on the roof of her apartment building, teenage Yi and her two friends embark on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family. But to do so, they must stay one step ahead of a wealthy financier and a determined zoologist who want to capture the beast for their own gain.

Abominable is written and directed by Jill Culton and co-directed by Todd Wilderman. The film features the voices of Chloe Bennet, Albert Tsai, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Eddie Izzard, Sarah Paulson, Tsai Chin and Michelle Wong.

10. The Lighthouse

Week Two
Friday: $1.28 million
Weekend: $2 million
Total: $3.75 million

Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.

The Lighthouse is directed by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Max Eggers. The film stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.