So a comic book movie that has more to do with “Taxi Driver” and “The King of Comedy” than Caesar Romero/Jack Nicholson/Jared Leto or their ilk swamped the record held by Spider-Man’s negative mirror image, “Venom.”

“Joker” earned $93.5 million, some $13.3 million more than “Venom” did just last October.

An R-rated, violent Tour de Phoenix and (Todd) Phillips alters the fall box office landscape and makes one wonder it it will top “Venom’s” all-in ($213 million and change, seems within easy reach) take.

“Judy” added 1000 screens or so, suffered a steep drop in per-screen average, and out-performed modest expecations to top the $2.9 million it took its first weekend (lower than projected), a $4,445,000 take this time out. Over $9 million by midday Monday, I figure. It’s looking like an $18-20 million hit, depending on that older audience showing up before it loses all its screens within a few weeks. That might be a long enough run to make it an Oscar contender for Renee Zellweger. 

“Abominable” managed a second weekend $12, “Downton Abbey” A third weekend $8, and “Hustlers” could hit $100 million next weekend.

The Indian action film “War” cracked the top ten on just 305 screens. I will try to catch that one next week, although it’s not showing at any cineplex particularly convenient to your average Orlando moviegoer.