In some way or another, audiences embraced the return of Tyler Perry's crossdress character, Madea. The character's first movie in nearly three years, Boo! A Madea Halloween, powered ahead of expectations to a strong $27.6 million ($12,212 per-venue average from 2,260 locations). This is Tyler Perry's first directorial effort in two and a half years, and his first #1 opening since I Can Do Bad By Myself seven years ago. For his Madea series, this ranks second to Madea Goes to Jail ($41 million) and, if estimates hold, it is a little ahead of both Witness Protection and Big Happy Family (which both opened to $25 million). Perhaps the break is what both the character and director needed, as it gave audiences more to be excited about. With just a $20 million budget, this is already turning into a success for distributor Lionsgate. Plus, with Halloween still a week away, this could have a good hold next week (a strong "A" CinemaScore helps too). Reviews were, as expected, negative (29% on Rotten Tomatoes). Lionsgate was projecting a mid-teens millions debut, in line with the character's last outing, A Madea Christmas ($16 million).
Meanwhile, settling for second place was Tom Cruise and his action sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. The action flick got off to a decent start, pulling in $23 million for a decent $6,085 per-venue average. This was a stronger debut than the first Jack Reacher, which debuted to $16 million back in 2012 (though during the holiday season, which often has softer debuts but stronger holding power in the long run), and is close to another Cruise film, Edge of Tomorrow ($27 million). Thanks to a strong marketing effort, Never Go Back managed to put up a solid number for the usually quiet October month. Overseas is off to a decent start also, with $31 million from 40 territories. Reviews weren't great for the film though (40% on Rotten Tomatoes), and a B+ CinemaScore isn't amazing either. Next weekend will bring a bit of competition from another sequel, Inferno, but it probably won't have the holding power of its predecessor (which went on to earn $80 million stateside). Paramount, who's struggled some this year, was expecting close to $20 million.Debuting in third place was horror sequel (or prequel) Ouija: Origin of Evil, which scared up $14.1 million, for a mild $4,438 per-venue average. That's down from the first Ouija, which managed a $19 million debut back on this same weekend in 2014. However, on just a $9 million budget, that's still a pretty good start by all means. Reviews were strong this time around (80% on Rotten Tomatoes), though the CinemaScore was a "C", on par with the first movie. Overseas results are decent early too. Look for this to have a decent hold next weekend as well. Distributor Universal was hoping for a low-to-mid-teens millions debut.
After a strong start last weekend, Ben Affleck's The Accountant had a pretty good hold in the face of competition. The R-rated actioner was off 43% to $14 million, tying Ouija for third place and it has picked up a very solid $47.9 million in 10 days. It is just getting started overseas, and should play well into November. The Girl on the Train stabilized a little bit in its third weekend, off 41% to $7.3 million. The Emily Blunt flick is at $58.9 million in 17 days on its way to around $75 million stateside. It has also passed $100 million worldwide.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children had a strong hold in its fourth weekend, easing just 33% to $6 million, for a fairly solid $74.4 million pick-up in 24 days. With a Halloween boost, the final gross will probably wind up around $90 million. Overseas is where the book adaptation is shining brighter though, with the worldwide gross at $225 million and counting.
Following a solid start last weekend, the floor came out underneath Kevin Hart, as What Now? plummeted 65% to $4.1 million. The comedy flick is at $18.9 million in 10 days, or nearly double its $10 million budget. It won't reach the $35 million final gross of Let Me Explain, but that doesn't really matter. Tying Hart was Storks, which remained in the mix in its fifth weekend, off a light 28% to $4.1 million. The animated flick is at $64.7 million in one month of release, and has one more weekend until Trolls opens. It's about to pass $150 million worldwide, which is close to enough for breaking even.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its fourth week was Deepwater Horizon, which was down 43% to $3.6 million. The Mark Wahlberg disaster flick is at $55.3 million in 24 days, or just half of its $110 million budget. A worldwide gross just under $100 million so far isn't going to be enough to save this disappointment.
Pure Flix's I'm Not Ashamed also opened in 500 theaters this weekend, with disappointing results. The true story based drama earned just $900,000 in 16th place, for a $1,782 per-venue average. Pure Flix is certainly in need of a hit, as it has struggled with most films since God's Not Dead.
And that's it for this weekend. Next weekend the fall season concludes with Tom Hanks returning in Inferno. The book adaptation is off to a strong start overseas so far, with nearly $100 million so far. Will it be able to have a similar effect in America? We'll see.
