THIS weekend’s box office charts were expected to be a log jam among the September releases, but one film has risen clear above the others: Focus Features/Carnival’s “Downton Abbey,” which earned a US$31 million opening weekend from 3,079 screens.

“Downton Abbey” was projected before the weekend for an opening in the high teens and expected to leg out with older audiences well into October. But now it has passed the US$23.6 million of “Insidious: Chapter 3” for the highest opening ever for a Focus release, setting it up for possibly an even longer run as a milder alternative to films like “Joker” that come out next month.

“Audiences were clearly ready to come back to ‘Downton’ and visit the Crawleys and all the familiar faces upstairs and downstairs,” said Focus President of Distribution Lisa Bunnell. “At its core, it’s a story about family, and audiences, both original fans and newcomers, are uplifted by that laughter and joy of the film.”

“We’re thrilled to be a part of something that began nearly 10 years ago with our friends and colleagues at NBC International and Carnival Films, and to have it remain with the NBCUniversal family with us now and do so well is amazing.”

With fans of the ITV/PBS series making up the overwhelming majority of its audience, reception has been predictably strong with an A on CinemaScore and a 4.5/5 on Postrak, joining an 85 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. Audience breakdown was overwhelmingly female at 74 percent, with 60 percent over the age of 35.

Overseas, the film opened in 15 more countries and took in US$10 million, including US$3.6 million from the U.K. in its second weekend. It’s global total now stands at US$61.8 million.                             (SD-Agencies)