Terminator: Dark Fate to Win Opening Weekend at the Box Office

The Terminator is back in theaters and back on top of the box office. Terminator: Dark Fate will rise to the top of the box office charts in its opening weekend. The film earned $10.6 million on Friday. It’s expected to take in $27 million in its first weekend. Terminator: Dark Fate is a direct sequel to The Terminator and T2: Judgment Day. It marks the return of James Cameron, who directed those first two films, to the franchise. Cameron contributed to Dark Fate‘s story, which treats the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation, Terminator Genisys, and the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as having taken place in an alternate timeline.

Terminator: Dark Fate is directed by Tim Miller. It sees Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger returning to their roles from the original film. Hamilton again plays Sarah Connor, now a veteran Terminator hunter. Schwarzenegger plays the T-800 that was sent to kill Sarah Connor in the first film, and then to protect her son in the second. The film also stars Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, and Diego Boneta.

Joker moves back into second place after reclaiming the top spot at the box office last weekend. It will earn another $11 million and is expected to break $300 million domestic before the weekend is over. 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.

What are you seeing this weekend? Let us know in the comments.

1. Terminator: Dark Fate

Opening Weekend
Friday: $10.6 million
Weekend: $27.1 million

In Mexico City, a newly modified liquid Terminator — the Rev-9 model — arrives from the future to kill a young factory worker named Dani Ramos. Also sent back in time is Grace, a hybrid cyborg human who must protect Ramos from the seemingly indestructible robotic assassin. But the two women soon find some much-needed help from a pair of unexpected allies — seasoned warrior Sarah Connor and the T-800 Terminator.

Terminator: Dark Fate is directed by Tim Miller, from a screenplay by David Goyer, Justin Rhodes and Billy Ray, based on a story by James Cameron (marking his return to the franchise), Charles H. Eglee, Josh Friedman, Goyer, and Rhodes. The film is a direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The film stars stars Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, and Diego Boneta.

2. Joker

Week Five
Friday: $3.84 million
Weekend: $11.1 million
Total: $296.8 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.

3. Harriet

Opening Weekend
Friday: $4 million
Weekend: $10.6 million

From her escape from slavery through the dangerous missions she led to liberate hundreds of slaves through the Underground Railroad, the story of heroic abolitionist Harriet Tubman is told.

Harriet is directed by Kasi Lemmons, who co-wrote the film’s screenplay with Gregory Allen Howard. The film stars Cynthia Erivo as Tubman, with Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, and Janelle Monáe.

4. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Week Three
Friday: $3.135 million
Weekend: $10.4 million
Total: $82.5 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.

5. The Addams Family

Week Four
Friday: $1.8 million
Weekend: $7.2 million
Total: $84 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.

6. Zombieland: Double Tap

Week Three
Friday: $2 million
Weekend: $6.7 million
Total: $54 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.

7. The Lighthouse

Week Three
Friday: $2 million
Weekend: $4.4 million
Total: $5 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.

8. Countdown

Week Two
Friday: $1.6 million
Weekend: $4.1 million
Total: $13.5

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.

9. Black and Blue

Week Two
Friday: $1.13 million
Weekend: $3.4 million
Total: $12.5 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.

10. Arctic Dogs

Opening Weekend
Friday: $700,000
Weekend: $2.7 million

Swifty the fox discovers a devious plan by Otto Von Walrus to drill beneath the Arctic surface to unleash enough gas to melt all the ice. With help from his friends — an introverted polar bear, a scatterbrained albatross, a crafty fox and two paranoid otters — Swifty and the gang spring into action to foil Otto’s plot and save the day.

Arctic Dogs is directed by Aaron Woodley and co-directed by Dimos Vrysellas. The film stars the voice of  Jeremy Renner, Heidi Klum, James Franco, John Cleese, Omar Sy, Michael Madsen, Laurie Holden, Anjelica Huston, and Alec Baldwin.