JOAQUIN PHOENIX is king of the North American box office once again as “Joker” scores an easy victory in its second weekend with US$55 million at 4,374 sites.

“Joker” dominated a trio of new entries with animated comedy “The Addams Family” leading the rest of pack with US$30.3 million at 4,007 venues, topping forecasts. Will Smith’s “Gemini Man” wound up under expectations with US$20.5 million at 3,642 locations.

Adam DeVine’s artificial intelligence comedy “Jexi” generated little interest with US$3.1 million at 2,332 screens.

“Joker” showed plenty of traction, declining only 43 percent from its impressive opening of US$96.2 million, the fifth-largest domestic launch of 2019 despite worries about the negative impact of the film’s darker themes.

Moviegoers have stayed strongly engaged with a 10-day total of more than US$192 million.

The psychological thriller has already become hugely profitable for Warner Bros., which partnered with Village Roadshow and Bron on the US$55 million project. And with a solid international performance of US$351 million, “Joker” has hit US$543 million at the worldwide box office in less than two weeks.

“The Addams Family,” handled through MGM’s United Artists Releasing, had been projected to earn US$21 million to US$27 million.

The PG film, which has been marketed toward family audiences, follows Morticia, Gomez, Wednesday, Pugsley and Uncle Fester as they bring their love of the macabre to 21st century life in New Jersey.

Pre-release forecasts had placed “Gemini Man” between US$24 million and US$29 million, but competition from “Joker” plus downbeat reviews — the film currently sits at 26 percent on Rotten Tomatoes — yielded a disappointing result, given the US$138 million price tag for Paramount, Skydance Media, Fosun and Alibaba. The film follows Will Smith, who battles a younger clone of himself, which director Ang Lee achieved through hyperrealistic visuals.

“Jexi” opened at the lower end of modest expectations. Adam DeVine stars as a man addicted to his phone, whose life changes thanks to a digital life coach named Jexi. The movie is the last theatrical release by CBS Films before it’s absorbed into CBS Corporation’s Entertainment Group.

The top two films continue the recent trend of solid overall performances in North America, according to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with Comscore.

“‘Joker’ continues to enthrall audiences, spark conversation and generate interest as reflected by a very modest drop of 43 percent in its second weekend,” he said.

“The Addams Family’ found favor with family audiences that were excited by the Halloween- season friendly and nostalgia- generating animated film.”

(SD-Agencies)