WASHINGTON, Oct 14 — New indie horror film "Terrifier 3” opened atop the North American box office, while last weekend’s leader, "Joker: Folie a Deux,” suffered a record plunge from its own debut, industry watchers reported Sunday.

"Terrifier 3,” from indie studio Cineverse and Icon Events, earned an estimated $18.2 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, according to Exhibitor Relations. Analyst David A. Gross called that "an outstanding opening for a third episode in an indie horror series.”

The slasher film has Art the Clown back to spread holiday fear—and plenty of blood and guts—with David Howard Thornton again playing the psychopathic harlequin.

Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s "The Wild Robot” placed second again, at $13.4 million. Lupita Nyong’o voices Roz, a robot stranded on a remote island who is forced to befriend woodland animals to survive.

That left Warner Bros.’ "Joker” film, a dark musical Batman spinoff, suffering a huge 80 percent drop, from last weekend’s $40 million to $7.1 million—a stunning result for a film with a budget close to $200 million.

That second-week collapse was the worst ever for a comic book-based movie and one of the biggest for any film, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

In fourth place, down one spot, was another Warner Bros.’ film, "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” at $7.0 million. Michael Keaton again plays the back-from-the-dead title character.

And in fifth, at $3.8 million, was Focus Features’ new "Piece by Piece,” a comedy-drama using Lego animation to follow the life of singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams. The all-star voice cast includes Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake and Busta Rhymes.

Meantime, a gritty new film about Donald Trump, "The Apprentice,” detailing his early rise in New York, had a weak opening, placing 10th with $1.6 million. Trump had threatened to try to block the release over its often unflattering depiction. Sebastian Stan plays Trump.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Transformers One” ($3.7 million)

"Saturday Night” ($3.4 million)

"My Hero Academia: You’re Next” ($3 million)

"The Nightmare Before Christmas (reissue): ($2.3 million)

"The Apprentice” ($1.6 million)