Weekend Box Office Report: Terminator: Dark Fate materializes in first!

Sarah Connor is back for a #1 opening!

Deadly human-hunting cyborgs returned to theaters this weekend and put TERMINATOR: DARK FATE on top at the box office with an estimated opening of $29 million!

The sixth time out for the time-travel series opened just a notch above the $27 million start of previous release TERMINATOR GENISYS, which fizzled with $89 million domestic but continued clanking to a worldwide finish of $432 million.

A direct sequel to TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (still the biggest in the series with $203 million domestic and $515 million worldwide), the new chapter from DEADPOOL director Tim Miller couldn't lurch past that movie's opening ($31 million back in 1991), or the now-ignored sequels TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES ($44 million) and TERMINATOR SALVATION ($42.5 million).

Bringing back relentless machine Arnold Schwarzenegger and original target Linda Hamilton, the R-rated relaunch also featuring Mackenzie Davis and Gabriel Luna has generated $123.6 million worldwide after arriving in some overseas territories last weekend.

The sci-fi story, which also enticed franchise founder James Cameron to take a break from his four AVATAR sequels to serve as producer, cost a reported $185 million.

Critics generally seemed more excited about Hamilton's return than the movie itself, settling on a 69% average on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 54 on Metacritic. Travel to the JoBlo reviews HERE and HERE.

In second place, R-rated Gotham villian origin JOKER continued laughing all the way to the bank with $13.9 million, placing Joaquin Phoenix's cackling killer clown just short of $300 million domestic after five weekends.

The $55 million DC Comics adaptation from director Todd Phillips is at an astonishing worldwide total of $934 million, beating the $867 million finish of BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE along with Marvel competition GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 ($862 million) and SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING ($880 million).

Disney's PG-rated fairy tale sequel MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL was in third place with $12.1 million, bringing Angelina Jolie's horned sorceress to a domestic total of $84.3 million and a worldwide total of $383.2 million on a reported $185 million cost.

Opening in fourth place was the new PG-13 historical drama HARRIET with $12 million.

Directed by Kasi Lemmons (BLACK NATIVITY), the account of escaped slave and freedom fighter Harriet Tubman (played by Broadway star Cynthia Erivo) cost a reported $17 million.

Critics were only moderately inspired by this portrayal of the iconic abolitionist, giving the movie a 72% average on Rotten Tomatoes and a 66 score on Metacritic. Head on over to the JoBlo review HERE.

The animated update of THE ADDAMS FAMILY was in fifth place with $8.4 million, which takes the spooky clan to $85.2 million domestic after four weekends. The PG-rated family feature (from SAUSAGE PARTY directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon) has a worldwide total of $129.5 million on a reported $40 million cost.

In sixth place was R-rated post-apocalypse sequel ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP with $7.3 million on its third weekend. The $42 million return of headshot-happy survivors Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin (and the original movie's director Ruben Fleischer) has a domestic total of $59.3 million and $87.1 million worldwide.

The PG-13 horror movie COUNTDOWN  was in seventh place with $5.8 million, winding down by 34% from its opening last weekend for a ten-day domestic total of $17.7 million. The killer-app thriller has a worldwide total of $21.4 million on a reported cost of $6.5 million.

The Naomie Harris/Tyrese Gibson crime thriller BLACK AND BLUE was in eighth place with $4 million, losing 52% of business from last week's opening. Director Deon Taylor's $12 million R-rated cop drama has a ten-day domestic total of $15.4 million.

In ninth place was the new period drama MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN with an opening of $3.6 million.

Based on Jonathan Lethem's novel, the R-rated New York crime noir from director-star Ed Norton (also starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bruce Willis and Willem Dafoe) cost a reported $26 million.

Critics had a minimum of praise for Norton's ambitious 1950s detective thriller, giving the movie a 61% average on Rotten Tomatoes and a 60 score on Metacritic. Investigate the JoBlo review right HERE.

At the bottom was the new animated movie ARCTIC DOGS with an opening of $3.1 million.

Featuring the voices of Jeremy Renner, Anjelica Huston, Alec Baldwin and Heidi Klum, the PG-rated animal adventure cost a reported $50 million. (It was released to more than 2800 locations for the lowest per-screen average in the Top 10.)

Outside the chart, the double-Will Smith action-thriller GEMINI MAN split, ABOMINABLE shambled out of sight, horror-thriller THE LIGHTHOUSE went dark, and historical drama THE CURRENT WAR: DIRECTOR'S CUT got unplugged after one week on the list.

In limited release, Bong Joon ho's acclaimed comedy-drama PARASITE and writer/director/star Taika Waititi's wartime satire JOJO RABBIT continued doing strong business with $2.6 million and $2.4 million respectively for the weekend.

Next weekend has Ewan McGregor checking in to Stephen King's haunted hotel in THE SHINING sequel DOCTOR SLEEP, director Roland Emmerich takes us to the WWII Pacific Theater with MIDWAY, John Cena deals with flames and children in the comedy PLAYING WITH FIRE, the holiday begins early with the Emilia Clarke/Henry Golding romance LAST CHRISTMAS, and Shia LeBeouf continues his image rehab with the acclaimed semi-biographical HONEY BOY.

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