‘Madea’ scares off Hanks, Cruise, Aff leck
NEW YORK (AP): OM HANKS. Tom Cruise. Ben Affleck. None of them have been a match for Tyler Perry’s Madea.
In a surprise victory at the weekend box office, Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween toppled
Tanother A-lister as Hanks’ and Ron Howard’s new Dan Brown adaption Inferno went up in flames. Perry’s latest movie about his tough-talking grandmother remained one for the second straight week, with an estimated US$16.7-million.
That was enough to scare away the third installment of the Da Vinci Code franchise. According to studio estimates on Sunday, Inferno bombed with US$15 million, about half of what more bullish predictions anticipated.
Sony Pictures and Inferno could take solace in stronger overseas business. In three weeks of international release the Italy-set film has earned nearly US$150-million. The studio also stressed that the US$75-million budget for Inferno was half that of 2006’s The Da Vinci Code or 2009’s Angels & Demons.
“Inferno joins the long list of sequels that didn’t measure up to their predecessors this year and in particular this summer, when only three of the 14 sequels released outperformed their immediate predecessors at the box office,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore.
Hanks has still notched the fall’s biggest hit, Clint Eastwood’s Sully. It has been an especially star-studded season, with Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (US$9.6 million in its second week) and Ben Affleck in The Accountant (US$8.5 million in its third week).
Perry’s long-running character has fared better than each – at least in North America. The Halloween-themed Boo! released by Lionsgate, has made US$52 million in 10 days, making it Perry’s biggest hit since 2009’s Madea Goes to Jail.
Following are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian cinemas, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.