Abominable Tops Box Office Chart Ahead Of Joker's Release

The dominance of sequels, reboots, and franchise movies is such that this week's US box office No. 1 is only the third original release to top the chart this year. The animated adventure Abominable follows Us and Good Boys, but with an estimated $20.8 million debut, it still fell short of both those films' opening take. Nevertheless, it's a solid debut for the film, and gave Universal its seventh No. 1 of the year, which is the largest number for any studio in 2019. It's likely to be short-lived however, with Joker set for release this Friday.

The spin-off of TV show Downton Abbey Downton Abbey dropped one place to No.2, earning an estimated $14.5 million, bringing its US total to $58.5 million. The film has also done very well overseas, and its worldwide total now stands at $107.1 million, from an estimated budget of just $20 million. The acclaimed crime drama Hustlers continued to perform well, making another $11 million in its third week of release to climb back to No. 3. The Top 5 was rounded out by the horror hit It: Chapter 2 at No.4, while the Brad Pitt-starring sci-fi drama Ad Astra dropped to fifth place.

The week's only other new entry was the Judy Garland biopic Judy, starring Renee Zellweger. The film had strong reviews and opened with an impressive $3.09 million from just 461 screens; it will expand to more theaters next week. Elsewhere in the chart, Rambo: Last Blood fell to No. 6, while Good Boys, The Lion King, and Angel has Fallen were at No. 8, 9, and 10 respectively.

Top 10 Films in the US for the weekend of September 27 -September 29 (via Box Office Mojo):

1. Abominable $20,850,000
2. Downton Abbey $14,500,000
3. Hustlers $11,470,000
4. It: Chapter Two $10,400,000
5. Ad Astra $10,143,000
6. Rambo: Last Blood $8,575,000
7. Judy $3,091,417
8. Good Boys $2,010,000
9. The Lion King $1,603,000
10. Angel has Fallen $1,535,000