While audiences griped this summer about the wealth of underwhelming sequels, this weekend, franchise entries took the top three spots at the box office. C’est la vie, and as long as moviegoers keep going to them, Hollywood will keep making them.
Certainly, in the case of “Boo! A Madea Halloween,” Tyler Perry‘s audience has not tired one bit of his comic character. While critics may scoff and hold their nose, Perry is laughing all the way to the bank. These movies cost little to make (the budget for ‘Halloween’ was $20 million), shoot quickly, and make their money back and then some. While the $27.6 million debut for ‘Halloween’ is off the pace of the series best (that would belong to “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes To Jail” which opened to $41 million), it’s still a healthy start, and I suspect these movies have a very good life on cable. All in all, it’s another success for Perry, and who would’ve ever thought he’d beat Tom Cruise at the box office?
Indeed, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” landed in second place this weekend with $23 million. And while that might seem like a disappointment, Paramount does have some silver linings to cling to. Firstly, they’ll be glad that the numbers are much better than the $15 million bow for “Jack Reacher,” and secondly, they’ll be looking to international to pad out the total. The first film did 57.4% of its box office abroad, and indeed, ‘Never Go Back’ is following that pattern, earning another $31 million internationally. Cruise’s appeal may be flagging at home, but his global appeal still remains strong.
“Ouija: Origin Of Evil” took third place with $14 million, a bit off the mark of the $19 million start for its predecessor. Universal was likely hoping for some better numbers, especially given the surprisingly good reviews, but at any rate, with a $9 million budget, they’ll make their money back. “Ouija” ended up doing $50 million domestic, and while ‘Origin Of Evil’ may not hit that figure, it’ll still wind up delivering a decent profit margin at the end of the day.
20th Century Fox are likely scratching their heads and wondering what the hell happened with “Keeping Up With The Joneses.” The combined star power of Zach Galifianakis, Jon Hamm, Gal Gadot, and Isla Fisher still couldn’t compel anyone to watch the action comedy which had a dismal launch with $5.6 million. It’s easily one of the worst wide openings for a major studio film this year, and following closely on the heels of “Masterminds,” marks another disastrous outing for Galifianakis. With a $40 million budget, this will leave an ugly mark on the ledger at Fox.
In limited release, it was all about Barry Jenkins‘ “Moonlight,” which earned $414,740 on four screens for an astonishing per-screen average of $103,685. The numbers are on par with the limited debuts of “The Revenant,” “Birdman,” “Midnight In Paris,” and “Precious,” which bodes well for its long term box office prospects, especially as the awards season heats up. A24 would be thrilled if they can wind up with numbers similar to Lee Daniels‘ film, which topped out at $47 million domestic. Certainly, “Moonlight” has the potential to be the studio’s biggest film yet, and cap off a great year which has included excellent runs for “The Witch” (their best earner to date), “The Lobster,” and “Swiss Army Man.”
Elsewhere at the arthouse: “American Pastoral” earned $151,000 across 50 screens (not a great start); “The Handmaiden” did $91,600 on five screens; “Michael Moore In TrumpLand” earned $50,200 on two screens (and remember, it’s also now available on iTunes); “In A Valley Of Violence” shot up $30,00 on 33 screens (don’t sleep on this movie folks, it’s wild fun); the re-release of “Tampopo” notched $17,200 in a single cinema; “Fire At Sea” earned $11,350 on a pair of screens; and on single screens, “King Cobra” and “The Uncondemned” earned $9,500 and $5,146 respectively.
1. “Boo! A Madea Halloween” — $27.6 million
2. “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” — $23 million
3. “Ouija: Origin Of Evil” — $14.06 million
4. “The Accountant” — $14.02 million ($47.9 mil.)
5. “The Girl On The Train” — $7.2 mil. ($58.9 mil.)
6. “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children” — $6 million ($74.4 mil.)
7. “Keeping Up With The Joneses” — $5.6 million
8. “Kevin Hart: What Now?” — $4.1 million ($18.9 mil.)
9. “Storks” — $4 million ($64.7 mil.)
10. “Deepwater Horizon” — $3.6 million ($55.2 mil.)
