Ha! Ha! Said the Clown, as ‘Terrifier 3’ Scares Off ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’

Social media makes 'em and breaks 'em: A low-budget indie is #1 with $18 million while the Joker sequel drops a historic 81 percent in its second week.

Manfred Mann’s 1968 hit single “Ha! Ha! Said the Clown” synthesizes theaters this weekend as “Terrifier 3” (Iconic/Cineverse) easily took the top spot. “Has the king lost his crown?” the second verse goes. Well, yes he did, and more, as “Joker: Folie à Deux” (Warner Bros.) fell 81 percent and likely to fourth place (the studio claims it’s in third by $5,000).

“Terrifier” is the third entry in the microbudget unrated horror series. With a $5 million budget (including marketing), it more than doubled what was anticipated as an already-decent $8 million opening. Positioned perfectly before Halloween, ahead of “Smile 2” (Paramount) next week, it built on its growing fandom and a smart social media campaign.

With an audience that reportedly is almost half Latino, “Terrifier 3” saved a bad weekend from being even worse. It’s an impressive achievement, all the more so without an MPA rating, and it could reach $50 million.

The caveat is we’ve got an $18.3 million for #1. In 2021 and 2022, two “Halloween” films with same-day streaming opened to over $40 million. Cineverse and its distributor Iconic did a great job, but it’s not enough to fill the hole in theater attendance.

One issue this week is other studios steered clear of the second weekend of “Folie” (the first “Joker” fell to $56 million in weekend two). With “Smile 2” delaying to the following week, “Terrifier 3” had an open path.

Four other wide openers failed to gross $12 million combined, with Focus’ “Piece by Piece” the best at $3.8 million. We saw strong holds for #2 “The Wild Robot” (Universal), down 29 percent, and the likely #3 “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (WB), off 30 percent for $275 million total.

None of that can compensate for the disaster of “Folie.” Warners is claiming the critically derided title beat out its own “Beetlejuice” by $5,000, but other studios place “Folie” at $6.6 million-$6.7 million. Last Sunday, Warners’ opening-weekend gross of $40 million was six percent high (normally, anything more than three percent off is suspect); we expect that when actuals come in, “Folie” will be fourth.

Not that it matters: A best-case scenario has “Folie” dropping 81 percent in weekend two, setting a dubious record. Until now, no new release that opened over $20 million has ever dropped more than 80 percent its second weekend. With just under $52 million in, the U.S./Canada total will likely fall short of $70 million. Foreign is doing better ($22.6 million this weekend). Combined worldwide is $165 million.

Expect “Joker 2,” with $300 million or more in production/marketing expenses, to reach perhaps $225 million worldwide. The 2019 “Joker” with lower ticket prices passed $1 billion. That’s another historic drop.

With the rapid increase in interest for the sleeper horror film and the total collapse of the Todd Phillps film, “Terrifier” and “Folie” each reflect the vast power of social media. All the money WB spent on “Folie” (expenses for its Venice premiere were likely more than the entire budget for “Terrifier 3”) only served to increase the chance that negative reaction would prevail.

While “Megalopolis” (Lionsgate) disappointed with its opening gross of $4 million, give it credit for doing better than any of the similar wide releases this week. “Piece by Piece,” Morgan Neville’s animated Pharrell Williams documentary, received an A Cinemascore and fifth place, ahead of the expansion of “Saturday Night” (Sony), #7 and the more limited anime “My Hero Academia: You’re Next” (Toho) eighth.

At #10 is “The Apprentice” (Briarcliffe) with a little over $1.5 million. The Donald Trump origin-story drama received praise for stars Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong, but it failed to attract anti-Trump voters. Much more successful with Trump supporters was the just-released documentary “Vindicating Trump.” For once, the candidate exhibited real self-restraint by not mentioning the film. Had he done so, it might have had a better shot.

‘We Live in Time‘

Bolstered by multiple Q&A screenings, John Crowley’s romantic drama “We Live in Time” with Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh grossed $226,000 in five New York/Los Angeles theaters ($45,182 per location). Though decent, that’s less than “Saturday Night” two weeks ago ($270,000, also in five). It will expand in top cities this Friday and wider on October 25.

In what has been a tricky specialized season, credit “The Substance” (MUBI) for going wide from the start. Though it is down to 586 theaters, it added over $1.1 million this weekend for a little under $12 million total. It could top $15 million, at the high end of expectations.

Total grosses came to $74 million, down 45 percent from last year (when “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” debuted). Year to date remains down 11 percent.

Top 10

1. Terrifier 3 (Iconic/Cineverse) NEW – Cinemascore: B; Metacritic: 61; Est. budget: $2 million

$18,300,000 in 2,514 theaters; PTA (per theater): $7,279; Cumulative: $18,300,000

2. The Wild Robot (Universal) Week 3; Last weekend #2

$13,450,000 (-29%) in 3,854 (-143) theaters; PTA: $3,490; Cumulative: $83,730,000

*3. Joker: Folie à Deux (WB) Week 2; Last weekend #1

$7,055,000 (-%) in 4,102 (no change) theaters; PTA (per theater): $1,720; Cumulative: $51,611,000

*4. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros.) Week 6; Last weekend #3

$7,050,000 (-30%) in 3,408 (-168) theaters; PTA: $2,069; Cumulative: $275,617,000

* (actual rank to be determined after Sunday grosses reported)

5. Piece by Piece (Focus) NEW – Cinemascore: A; Metacritic: 62; Est. budget: $16 million

$3,800,000 in 1,865 theaters; PTA: $2,038; Cumulative: $3,800,000

6. Transformers One (Paramount) Week 4; Last weekend #4

$3,650,000 (-32%) in 2,758 (-348) theaters; PTA: $1,175; Cumulative: $52,851,000

7. Saturday Night (Sony) Week 3; Last weekend #19

$3,435,000 (+1,168%) in 2,309 theaters; PTA: $1,488; Cumulative: $4,189,000

8. My Hero Academia: You’re Next (Toho) NEW – Cinemascore: A-

$3,007,000 in 1,845 theaters; PTA: $1,630; Cumulative: $3,007,000

9. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Disney) REISSUE

$2,300,000 in 1,700 theaters; PTA: $1,353; Cumulative: $(reissue) 2,300,000

10. The Apprentice (Briarcliffe) NEW – Cinemascore: B-; Metacritic: 64; Est. budget: $16 million

$1,580,000 in 1,740 theaters; PTA: $908; Cumulative: $1,580,000

Other specialized/independent titles

Films (limited, expansions of limited) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed. Metacritic scores and initial film festivals recorded when available.

We Live in Time (A24) NEW – Metacritic: 61; Festivals include: Toronto 2024

$225,991 in 5 theaters; PTA: $45,182

Average Joe (Fathom) NEW

$1,116,000 in theaters; PTA: $651

The Cruise (Oscilloscope) REISSUE

$5,573 in 1 theater; PTA: $$5,573

Look Back (GKids) Week 2 2

$239,320 in theaters; PTA: $1,477; Cumulative: $1,548,000

White Bird (Lionsgate) Week 2

$755,000 in 1,038 (+20) theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $3,041,000

The Outrun (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2

$101,028 in 200 (-308) theaters; PTA: $505; Cumulative: $612,785

Nurse Unseen (RBL) Week 2

$9,640 in 2 theaters; PTA: $4,820; Cumulative: $18,820

Separated (Submarine Deluxe) Week 2

$4,597 in 2 (+1) theaters; PTA: $2,499; Cumulative: $12,907

Daaaaaali! (Music Box) Week 2

$7,000 in 13 (-6) theaters; PTA: $538; Cumulative: $12,837

Megalopolis (Lionsgate) Week 3 1,854

$230,000 in 227 (-1,627) theaters; Cumulative: $7,344,000

Lee (Roadside Attractions) Week 3

$104,565 in 151(-314) theaters; Cumulative: $1,700,000

Vindicating Trump (SDG) Week 3 429

$15,500 in 67 (-362) theaters; Cumulative: $1,351,000

The Substance (MUBI) Week 4

$1,141,000 in 586 (-100) theaters; Cumulative: $11,624,000

A Different Man (A24) Week 4 265

$46,971 in 103 (-162) theaters; Cumulative: $

Am I Racist? (SDG) Week 5

$115,000 in 207 (-355) theaters; Cumulative: $12,150,000