It actually happened: Disney’sMaleficent: Mistress of Evilhas managed to endJoker’s hot streak at the box office. The sequel to 2014’sMaleficentsees starsAngelina JolieandElle Fanningreturning to their roles as Maleficent and Aurora, respectively, withMichelle Pfeifferstepping in to play a queen who opposes Maleficent’s relationship with Aurora.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evilopened in 3,790 domestic theaters this week. In its first two days, the sequel made $12.5 million in the U.S., with that total reflecting Thursday previews where it earned $2.3 million. The Jolie-led flick averaged a solid and admirable $3,298 per theater, too, further indicating this movie is a success right out of the gate. It looks predictions ofMaleficent: Mistress of Evil’s success overJokerat the box office are already coming true, but the Disney sequel still has a long road ahead if it’s going to come anywhere close to those $45 million-in-its-opening-weekend predictions.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evilwasn’t the only sequel hitting theaters on Friday.Zombieland: Double Tapdebuted approximately 10 years after the first chapter hit theaters in 2009. The flick featuresZombielandleadsWoody Harrelson,Jesse Eisenberg,Emma Stone, andAbigail Breslinreprising their roles as survivors of a zombie apocalypse who’ve banded together and are trying to start anew.Double Tapalso introduces new survivors into the mix, includingZoey DeutchandRosario Dawson.
Based on the numbers, audiences had as much of a hankering for zombie-filled action as they did for a Disney villain dominating with style at Friday’s box office.Zombieland: Double Tapearned $10.5 million domestic on Friday, with that number also reflecting the $2.85 million it brought in during Thursday previews. The horror comedy opened in 3,468 theaters here in the U.S., averaging $3,042 per theater — not too shabby!
Coming in third at the Friday box office isJoker, which added another $8.6 million in domestic earnings to its already massive U.S. total. That total is now sitting at $226.6 million as we head into the weekend. the amount of theaters this Warner Bros. hit is now available in has dipped slightly, with 4,090 locations currently showing the movie. It’s per-theater average is also dipping, with Friday’s average sitting at $2,105. This is a notable change from last Friday, where the per-theater average was $3,865. Compared to its Friday opening per-theater of average of $8,997, it’s even more noticeable. It’s unclear if there is anything at work here besides rapidly changing tastes from moviegoers as the promise of something new hits theaters. But, for the first time since it opened,Jokeris really going to have to fight to get butts in seats.
Rounding out the Friday box office chart is newThe Addams Familyanimated adaptation. The family-friendly spooky season movie earned $4.1 million domestically, bringing its total up to $45 million as it heads into its second weekend in theaters. In fifth place isGemini Man, which is still trying and failing to achieve any kind of marker of success. TheWill Smith-led action flick added $2.3 million to its domestic earnings, a sizeable drop considering it has only been in theaters a week and last Friday — its first Friday, to be exact — it earned $7.5 million. Ouch.
To say this weekend’s box office is off to an interesting start would be putting it all too mildly. We’re in for an intriguing weekend, folks.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
$12,500,000
Zombieland: Double Tap
$10,550,000
$8,610,000
$226,634,004
The Addams Family (2019)
$4,100,000
$44,859,027
Gemini Man
$2,300,000
$30,316,543
