WARNER Bros’ Joker survived the intense controversy over its violent themes to take in US$96.2 million (RM403.3 million) in North American theatres over the weekend, setting a record for an October release, reported industry watcher Exhibitor Relations yesterday.

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, the film provides the backstory for the rise of Batman’s maniacal nemesis, painting a dark and disturbing portrayal of a would-be stand-up comedian’s descent into madness.

Amid fears that it might inspire violence – a shooting at a 2012 screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado, claimed 12 lives – some theatres provided extra security for the opening of Joker.

The movie, directed by Todd Phillips (maker of The Hangover trilogy), has polarised critics. The Washington Post called it “grim, shallow (and) distractingly derivative”, but Empire magazine deemed the Venice film festival winner “bold, devastating and utterly beautiful”.

Universal’s family-friendly Abominable placed a distant second at the box office, earning US$11.9 million in its second weekend. It tells the story of a teen and her friends trying to help a young Yeti reunite with its family as a wealthy man seeks to capture it as a prize.

In third, at US$8 million, is Focus Features’ Downton Abbey, the cinematic follow-up to the hit TV series about an upper-class family and their stately home in a changing Britain.

Hustlers by STX Films placed fourth, at US$6.4 million. The Jennifer Lopez movie is based on a true story about strippers who plot to steal from their wealthy clients in recession-hit New York.

And in fifth is IT: Chapter Two, at US$5.3 million. The Warner Bros horror flick features the grown-up versions of the kids who battled terrifying clown Pennywise 27 years earlier, as they are forced to do it again.

Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 are:

– Judy (US$4.6 million);

– Ad Astra (US$4.2 million);

– Rambo: Last Blood (US$3.6 million);

– War (US$1.6 million); and,

– Good Boys (US$900,000). – AFP, October 8, 2019.