Jennifer Lopez's best box office openings

Hustler wins big as one of Jennifer Lopez's best box office openings. Hustlers" may not have taken the top spot at the box...

Hustler wins big as one of Jennifer Lopez's best box office openings.

Hustlers" may not have taken the top spot at the box office, but it was arguably the weekend's biggest winner.

The film made an estimated $33 million at the North American box office this weekend. That was enough to give the film the No. 2 spot, but more importantly than the film's ranking at the box office, "Hustlers" exceeded industry expectations and its budget. It was projected to make roughly $25 million, according to the film's studio STXfilms. Its production budget was just $20 million.

The film, which stars Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu as strippers who work together to fleece Wall Street brokers, has been gaining buzz since it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. The film has an 88% score on review site Rotten Tomatoes. The film's audience was 67% female this weekend, according to studio data.

The film, which is based on the 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, made only $2.6 million. "The Goldfinch," which stars Ansel Elgort and Nicole Kidman, was widely panned by critics. The film holds a 25% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The US box office, which is down roughly 6% compared to last year, has held steady since the end of the summer. The rest of the year shows a lot of promise however with potential hits including "Joker," "Frozen 2" and "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" still on the horizon.