Weekend Box Office Report: Joker is back on top!

Joker's success is no laughing matter!

After stepping aside for a weekend, the grinning villain of Gotham returned to first place as JOKER won the box office weekend with an estimated $18.9 million!

The DC Comics adaptation with Joaquin Phoenix as the Clown Prince of Crime has reached a domestic total of $277.6 million after four weekends in theaters.

With a current worldwide total of $849 million, director Todd Phillips's $55 million origin story has become the highest-grossing R-rated release in history as it passed other recent R-rated comic adaptations DEADPOOL ($800 million) and DEADPOOL 2 ($786 million), along with LOGAN ($615 million). 

In addition, the Harlequin of Hate has clobbered the global totals for other comic book movies including WONDER WOMAN ($821 million), THOR: RAGNAROK ($846 million), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY ($770 million) and the original Sam Raimi 2002 SPIDER-MAN ($821 million).

Another wicked character had to settle for second place this weekend as MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL descended from its throne with $18.5 million, slashed by 50% from its first place opening last weekend for a ten-day domestic total of $65.4 million.

Disney's $185 million sequel to its 2014 SLEEPING BEAUTY prequel, with Angelina Jolie once again wearing the villain horns in the PG-rated fairy tale, has a worldwide total of $293.5 million.

The kooky and spooky kin of THE ADDAMS FAMILY went creeping up a spot over the weekend before Halloween, taking third place with $11.7 million. The PG-rated $40 million animated movie has a domestic total of $72.8 million and $84 million worldwide on its third weekend haunting theaters.

In fourth place was the sequel ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP with $11.6 million, shot down by 57% from last weekend's opening. The R-rated return of the brain-blasting post-apocalypse quartet (Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin) has a ten-day domestic total of $47 million and $63.6 million worldwide, on a reported $42 million cost.

Opening in fifth place was the new horror movie COUNTDOWN with $9 million.

The PG-13 supernatural thriller, about a demonic app that ticks away the minutes until the user's demise, came with a reported production cost of $6.5 million.

Critics didn't think the devilish tech provided much of a Halloween treat, giving the movie a 26% average on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 30.

In sixth place was the new crime thriller BLACK AND BLUE with an opening of $8.3 million for the weekend.

Directed by Deon Taylor (THE INTRUDER), the R-rated police action-drama with Naomie Harris and Tyrese Gibson taking down corrupt New Orleans cops had a reported cost of $12 million.

Critics threw the book at the movie, giving it an average of 46% on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 53 on Metacritic. Get cuffed and stuffed with the JoBlo review HERE.

Director Ang Lee's PG-13 action-thriller GEMINI MAN was in seventh place $4 million. After three weekends, Will Smith's duel with his younger clone has a domestic total of $43.3 million and a worldwide total of $148.2 million, on a reported cost of $138 million.

Lurching onto the list in eighth place was the horror-thriller THE LIGHTHOUSE with $3 million as it expanded from last weekend's impressive limited release debut.

The R-rated hallucinatory drama from director Robert Eggers (THE WITCH) has a domestic total of $3.6 million after its expansion from 8 to 586 screens.

The black-and-white chiller, with Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as a pair of isolated lighthouse keepers, currently shines with a 92% critical average on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 83 on Metacritic (the JoBlo review is HERE).

Opening in ninth place was the historical drama THE CURRENT WAR: DIRECTOR'S CUT with $2.7 million.

Delayed from its domestic release by nearly two years, the PG-13 story of the race between electric system pioneers George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison cost a reported $30 million.

The fact-based account with Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Tom Holland and Nicholas Hoult has a worldwide total of $7.6 million.

The competition of rival inventors didn't spark much of a positive reaction from critics, who gave the movie a 58% average on Rotten Tomatoes and a 49 score on Metacritic. Plug in to the JoBlo review HERE.

Closing out the list was the PG-rated animated movie ABOMINABLE with $2 million. The $75 million DreamWorks Yeti adventure has a domestic total of $56.8 million and a worldwide total of $144.6 million on its fourth weekend.

Outside the chart, the doors of DOWNTON ABBEY were closed, the Stephen King sequel IT: CHAPTER TWO floated out of sight, the biopic JUDY sang its final song and the Jennifer Lopez/Constance Wu crime-comedy HUSTLERS gave its last lapdance.

In limited release, writer/director/star Taika Waititi's comedy-drama JOJO RABBIT added 50 screens for a $1 million weekend, while Bong Joon ho's award-winning comedy-drama PARASITE wasn't far from the Top 10 with $1.8 million on just 33 screens.

And although it doesn't materialize in North American theaters until next weekend, the sequel TERMINATOR: DARK FATE started overseas with $12.8 million.

Next weekend kicks off November with the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton in TERMINATOR: DARK FATE, Ed Norton investigates crimes in MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN, Cynthia Erivo portrays historical heroine Harriet Tubman in HARRIET, Jeremy Renner voices a hound in the animated ARCTIC DOGS, and director Martin Scorsese's crime epic THE IRISHMAN gets a limited release before it hits Netflix later in the month.

Which November release are you most interested in seeing? VOTE HERE!