LOS ANGELES, Oct 29 ― Disney's dark fairy tale Maleficent: Mistress of Evil edged out Joker in a fierce battle of the supervillains this weekend, taking US$19.4 million (RM81.2 million) in North American theatres, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said yesterday.
The film, a sequel to the 2014 live-action hit, stars Angelina Jolie as the evil sorceress of Sleeping Beauty fame. This time around, Michelle Pfeiffer joins the cast as a scheming Queen Ingrith.
For a second consecutive weekend it held off Warner Bros.' scarefest Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, which managed US$19.2 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period to finish a narrow second.
Joker had appeared to hold a slender lead in early box office estimates.
The film, with Phoenix incarnating Batman's notorious nemesis, has now taken approximately US$850 million globally, becoming the most successful R-rated movie in history, according to Variety.
With Halloween only days away, scary movies did well overall.
In third spot was The Addams Family from United Artists, at US$12 million. The computer animation, following the spooky Addams Family and some creepy relatives, features the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Snoop Dogg and Bette Midler.
In fourth, at US$11.8 million in its second week out, was Sony's Zombieland: Double Tap, a comedy sequel starring Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Luke Wilson.
New release Countdown from STX films placed fifth at US$8.9 million. The low-budget horror film tells the tale of a nurse (Elizabeth Lail) who finds an app that predicts exactly when people will die -- and learns her own death is only days away.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
Black and Blue (US$8.4 million)
Gemini Man (US$4.1 million)
The Lighthouse (US$3 million)
The Current War: Director's Cut (US$2.6 million)
Abominable (US$2.1 million) ― AFP
