A look at California’s November ballot propositions. The weekend before Halloween offers different kinds of horror on what looks to be a pretty slow one for the newbies. STX offers the Ring-like Countdown about a killer app that predicts when someone is going to die. The critically acclaimed Bong Joon Ho film enjoyed a 233% increase over its opening weekend, finishing just outside the top 10. The budget did increase from $23 million to $42 million, however, so this one also has its work cut out for it. ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ finds everyone’s favorite vulgar Kazakh journalist returning to the U.S. for the first time in over a decade, and things get ... political. If the Manderley featured in Netflix’s “Rebecca” looks familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen it on screen before. Parasite has grossed $1.8 million to date, and Neon needs to keep spreading the word. Disney’s Maleficent opened to $69.43 million back in the summer of 2014.

Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” had been forecast to launch around $45 million this weekend. The $185 million–budgeted film joins a number of sequels in 2019 that have had significant drop-offs from their predecessors.

Boyhood went five to 34 ($1.17 million), The Farewell four to 35 ($1.14 million), and The Favourite four to 34 ($1.07 million). Review: Anne Hathaway is a hoot, but this remake of ‘The Witches’ is an awfully thin brew. The fantasy sequel should still win the domestic weekend box office handily, denying Joaquin Phoenix’s “Joker” a third consecutive victory. Read Next: Women Directors Could Make History at the Next Oscars (Column) – Awards Circuit, Agents, Sales Companies Unveil Virtual Market Set With American Film Market, Spike Lee to Receive American Cinematheque Award, Aaron Eckhart Conspiracy Thriller ‘Wander’ Slated for December — Film News in Brief, Matthew McConaughey Reveals He Was Sexually Abused as a Teen in New Memoir, Rudy Giuliani’s Compromising Appearance in New ‘Borat’ Film Raises Questions Ahead of Election, How ‘Scream 5’ Directors Convinced Neve Campbell to Return to the Franchise Without Wes Craven, Ariana Grande’s New Album: Everything We Know So Far, HBO Max Hits 28.7 Million Subscribers in Q3, Warner Bros. Revenue Down 28%, As Quibi Shutters, So Goes Nearly $2 Billion in Major Hollywood Investments, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom Buy $14.2 Million Montecito Compound, Quibi Is Shutting Down After Failing to Find a Buyer, Daisy Edgar-Jones Joins Drama ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ With Producer Reese Witherspoon, Stephen Colbert Mocks Rudy Giuliani for Controversial ‘Borat 2’ Scene, Horror Icons Jamie Lee Curtis and Neve Campbell Compare Notes on Their Reigns as Scream Queens, Tyler Perry on Producing During the Pandemic and Why He’s Weighing in on Politics, Netflix to Campaign Chadwick Boseman as Lead Actor for ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’, ‘Willow’ Sequel Series Officially a Go at Disney Plus With Jon M. Chu to Direct, Netflix Misses Q3 Subscriber and Net Earnings Forecasts, Stock Falls, Designer Eva Chow’s Art-Filled Megamansion Seeks $65 Million, Better Blankets: Switch to These Down Alternative Duvets for Year-Round Coziness, Inside an English Tudor-Style Party Castle That Has an Irish Pub in the Living Room, World Series Fans a Preview of 2021 As Packed Arenas a Year Away, Fitch Says, Henry Rose Just Released Its First Hand Sanitizer, And It’s the Perfect Stocking Stuffer for 2020.

STX announced Friday that its drama “Hustlers” crossed the $100 million mark at the North American box office as it enters its sixth weekend. It earned a 77% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In seventh place, Focus Features’ “Downton Abbey” added $3 million in its fifth weekend for a cumulative $88.6 million. At No. 3, Sony’s “Zombieland: Double Tap” opened with $26.7 million. In milestone news, Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers passed the $100 million mark this week.

It’s the first major studio comedy since “Good Boys” bowed in mid-August and wound up as 2019’s top-grossing live-action comedy with $82 million. The strip club story, starring Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu, has been embraced by critics and carries an 88% rating in Rotten Tomatoes. Review: ‘Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You’ celebrates E Street ‘blood brothers’. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. California’s November election will feature 12 statewide ballot measures. The Times endorses one incumbent and three newcomers for the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees.

Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit (77% at RT) made $350,000 this weekend in just five theaters. “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” is also opening in all major international markets this weekend. A follow-up to 2014’s “Maleficent,” the sequel failed to recapture the allure of the first film, which opened with $69.4 million in North America on its way to $758 million in global ticket sales. Joker will become the seventh-highest grossing film worldwide by next weekend. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil took the top spot this weekend with $36 million, but won’t continue Disney’s unprecedented streak of releasing four billion-dollar films in a row. The Bronx, N.Y., native previously served as a digital producer at Essence and Allure magazines and has contributed bylines to Complex, Mashable and Patch.com. A24 will reportedly expand it into 500 theaters, similar to the strategy of last year’s Blindspotting, which went from 11 theaters (opening to $338,999) and moving to 523 theaters (where it grossed $1.28 million).

It should finish this weekend with about $245 million in its first 17 days in North America. In second place, Warner Bros.’ “Joker” added $29.2 million for a cumulative $247.2 million.

Rudy Giuliani is in the new ‘Borat.’ Here’s what to know about his controversial scene. The film carries a $138 million price tag. The original opened to $24.73 million in 2009 and given that would equate to about $29.6 million 10 years later, a $26.7 million opening for the sequel still is not too bad. Lead cast members Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone return to a world where many new kinds of zombies have evolved since the first movie. It earned a 77% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Internationally it earned $117 million for a global cumulative of $153 million. Summary: Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king’s newborn infant Aurora. The raunchy “Zombieland: Double Tap” is opening at 3,450 domestic locations. Seven of them have fallen off 50 percent or higher from the previous film and they include: The Angry Birds Movie 2 (-72.9 percent), Happy Death Day 2U (-63.5 percent), Shaft (-59 percent), A Dog’s Journey (-55.9 percent), The Secret Life of Pets 2 (-55.3 percent), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (-50.6 percent), and Dark Phoenix (-50.1 percent). Sonaiya Kelley is a film reporter at the Los Angeles Times.