The hype was real. Todd Phillips' Joker jumped into the October record books with the month's best-ever opening—crushing the previous record of $80.3M set by last year's Venom. Joker also registers as the fourth-best R-rated premiere of all time (trailing only the Deadpool films and 2017's It). The film's dark tone and serious subject matter might not inspire the kind of repeat viewings the typicl comic-book inspired film receives, and with a mildly-positive Rotten Tomatoes score (69%) and a good, but not stellar, CinemaScore (B+) the gritty drama's legs are hard to predict. With its amazing opening, however, Joker should laugh all the way to an easy $200M+ total.

Dropping into second place, Abominable was down 41.8% in its second weekend with $12M, giving it a 10-day total of $37.8M. At this stage, a Top 10 finish looks doubtful for the animated flick.

Continuing to deliver in its third weekend, Downton Abbey earned another $8M (-44.2%) and pushing its season total to $73.6M. At present, Downton ranks eighth amongst movies this season and still has a shot at finishing in the Top 10.

In fourth place, Hustlers held well in its fourth weekend—down 44.7% with $6.3M. Through 24 days the big hit sits at $91.3M for the season (good for sixth place).

Rounding out the Top Five, It: Chapter 2 scared up another $5.4M in its fifth weekend to give it a new grand total of $202.2M. It will remain the film to beat for the number one spot as the season comes to a close at the end of the month.