Madea scares away all rivals from top spot
Tyler Perry’s latest bests ‘Jack Reacher’ and ‘Ouija’ sequels. ‘Boo!’ indeed.
With Halloween just days away, the box office took a turn to the supernatural, with “Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween” taking hold of the top spot and leaving other new releases and holdovers behind.
The Lionsgate picture scared up an estimated $27.6 million for the weekend in the U.S. and Canada, well above studio projections of $15 million and industry expectations of $15 million to $20 million. It is the thirdhighest debut for a Madea film, behind 2009’s “Madea Goes to Jail” and 2006’s “Madea’s Family Reunion.”
Perry and his films featuring the Madea character have been consistent crowd pleasers since the franchise’s inception in the early 1990s, when it began as stage plays. This latest iteration is no different, receiving an A grade from moviegoers, according to CinemaScore. Critics, however, as usual, felt the film left something to be desired, with only 31% of the Rotten Tomatoes reviews being positive.
Coming in second was another new release, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” from Paramount, with $23 million, also beating both studio ($17 million to $19 million) and analyst expectations ($15 million to $20 million). Internationally, the picture took in an impressive $31 million, bucking a trend of sequels struggling at the box office this year.
“[Sequels] have been a challenge all over the world,” said Megan Colligan, Paramount’s distribution chief, noting the latest film’s 20% growth globally over the original.
The follow-up to 2012’s “Jack Reacher” again stars Tom Cruise as a former military policeman investigating suspicious and dangerous situations. It also stars Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh and Aldis Hodge.
“Never Go Back” garnered mixed reviews from moviegoers (57% male; 42% ages 25 to 49) and critics. While it received a B-plus CinemaScore (an A-minus from those ages 25 to 34), the picture has a 40% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Continuing the supernatural trend led by “Boo!,” Universal’s “Ouija: Origin of Evil” took the third spot with $14.1 million, falling below expectations of $15 million or more. But it also pulled in $7.9 million internationally.
“Origin of Evil” is a followup to 2014’s surprise horror hit based on the Hasbro board game. Whereas the original “Ouija” was a critically reviled present-day teen thriller, the sequel is set in 1967 L.A. and has earned some positive early reviews.
The film received the top praise of new releases this past weekend, with an 81% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences (even split male-female; 57% under 25), however, gave it only a C CinemaScore.
Rounding out the top five were two holdovers: Warner Bros.’ “The Accountant,” with $14 million in its second week, and Universal’s “The Girl on the Train,” with $7.3 million in its third week.
The final new release of the week, Fox’s “Keeping Up With the Joneses,” landed in seventh with $5.6 million, well below expectations of an already soft $7-million-to$9-million bow.
In limited release, Lionsgate opened “American Pastoral,” with Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, Dakota Fanning and Uzo Aduba, in 50 sites to $151,000.
A24 released festival darling “Moonlight,” from director Barry Jenkins, on four screens in New York and L.A. to $414,740. That’s a per-screen average of $103,685. This week, it expands to Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
STX Entertainment’s “Desierto” expanded to 168 locations, bringing in $474,000 this past weekend. Its gross is $1.1 million.
This week, Sony’s thriller “Inferno” will compete for the top spot.