HOLLYWOOD—We knew the box-office receipts for the origin tale of one of Batman’s greatest villains, The Joker, would be big at the box-office, but I never expected it to be this big. “Joker” took in a massive $96 million haul during its opening weekend.

“Joker” now holds the largest opening for a movie in the month of October, taking away the previous record held last year by “Venom” with over $80 million, and right behind was the 2018 version of “Halloween” with over $76 million. I expect “Joker” to have major legs at the box-office as buzz about the film continues to spread.

Dropping to second place was last weekend’s victor, “Abominable” with $12 million. After two weeks in theaters, the animated feature has earned over $37 million at the domestic box-office. Landing in third place was “Downton Abbey” with $8 million bringing its cumulative tally to over $135 million. Not bad for a popular TV series. Staying comfortable in the top five was the dramedy “Hustlers” which landed in fourth place with $6.3 million, as it edges closer to crossing the $100 million mark at the domestic box-office.

Rounding out the top five was “IT: Chapter Two” which finally crossed the $200 million mark at the domestic box-office after earning $5.4 million at the box-office. This weekend sees the release of the Will Smith action-adventure “Gemini Man.” Do I suspect the movie to have the power to dethrone “Joker?” Not a chance America.