In a surprise upset, Tyler Perry was able to keep Tom Hanks from #1. Boo! A Madea Halloween repeated on top, with a 42% drop to $16.7 million, for a very good $52 million gross in 10 days. For Madea and Tyler Perry, that is a very good hold (most of his movies fall 55-60% in their second weekends), though it was somewhat to be expected with the titular holiday tomorrow. The film will likely start to erode quickly once Halloween passes. But, the film is still set to finish ahead of Witness Protection ($65 million) and Family Reunion ($63 million) to become the character's second-biggest gross to date behind only Goes to Jail ($90 million). Overseas is really not clicking, but it really never does for these films. The budget was just $20 million, so Lionsgate is likely already about to go into the black with this one.
Meanwhile, Tom Hanks' second movie in less than two months debuted as the lone new release this weekend. Inferno, however, flamed out rather than set the box office on fire domestically. The third installment in Sony's Robert Langdon series earned just $15 million in second place ($4,195 per-venue average), well behind expectations that had pegged the threequel to pull in at least $20 million. In the meantime, that's just one third of the second movie, Angels and Demons ($46 million) and one-fifth of The Da Vinci Code ($77 million), without adjusting for inflation. In the end, a seven year wait and no real positive good will didn't help matters at all for this one. Thankfully, Sony somewhat saw this coming as they cut the budget in half ($75 million) and overseas, it is doing great, with $132 million in three weeks. With all of this in mind, Inferno will probably wind up OK (especially with China and Japan left to open), but I wouldn't expect any more additional installments. Distributor Sony was projecting a low-$20 millions debut. Reviews were terrible, like the first two (20% on Rotten Tomatoes), and audiences gave it a "B+" CinemaScore.With new competition from Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise saw a large second weekend decline for his action sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, down 58% to $9.6 million. The sequel is at a mediocre $39.7 million gross in 10 days, and is approaching $100 million worldwide. Still though, its not a great number by all means. Faring much better in its third weekend was The Accountant, as the Ben Affleck film was down 38% to $8.5 million, for a solid $61.3 million gross in 17 days. An $80-85 million finish would be nearly double its $45 million budget.
Ouija: Origin of Evil followed with a 50% drop to $7.1 million, for a mild $24.6 million pick-up in 10 days. That's $10 million behind its predecessor through the same point, but bear in mind, the budget was only $9 million. Another scary thriller, The Girl on the Train, was down 40% in its fourth weekend to $4.3 million. The book adaptation has earned $65.9 million gross in 24 days. Faring even better was Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which was off a light 33% with Halloween approaching. The other book adaptation in the Top 10 earned $4 million in its fifth weekend, for a solid $79.9 million in one month of release. It's also picked up almost $250 million worldwide.
Last week's misfire, Keeping Up with the Joneses didn't plunge, as it was off 38% to $3.4 million. The Zach Galifianakis-Jon Hamm spy comedy is at a forgettable and weak $10.8 million in 10 days. Hanging onto ninth place, Storks had the lightest hold, off just 30% in its sixth weekend to $2.8 million. The animated flick from Warner Bros. will have new competition in the form of DreamWorks Animation's Trolls next weekend. It has also picked up $150 million worldwide.
Rounding out the Top 10 was an international release. Ai Dil Hai Mushkil. The Bollywood production debuted in 300 locations and is earning $7,070 per screening. I'm not expecting this to hang around for long, but its still pretty impressive.
That's about it. Next weekend, the holiday movie season gets underway through Marvel's next superhero, Doctor Strange, and the animated musical Trolls. Will it be close or a landslide? We shall see.
