Although not quite as bad as it was in late August/early September, the box office is falling back to its pre-IT numbers, as Hollywood apparently decided that the weekend before the Halloween weekend would be a good time to dump all its duds. With Netflix, the NFL, and the return of The Walking Dead this weekend, moviegoers are more inclined to skip the movies all together than choose the best of five weak offerings.
As a result, Boo 2! A Madea Halloween led the way with an OK $21.5 million. That’s down from the $35 million that Tyler Perry’s original Boo! scored, but with a $20 million production cost, it’s still a hit and will likely perform well through Halloween. While Adam Sandler and James have moved to Netflix after moviegoing audiences lost their appetite for that brand of broad comedy, Tyler Perry remains one of the few directors who is still review-proof. Boo 2 was loathed by critics (8 percent from Rotten Tomatoes), but for whatever reason, audiences still love Madea (it received an A- from Cinemascore).
In at number two this weekend was Geostorm, the $120 million disaster film from Dean Devlin. Flayed by critics (13 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences knew what they were getting into with Geostorm, but apparently not that many moviegoers were willing to shell $10 to see a film ironically, as the film could only generate $13 million in ticket sales. The film is going to have to kick up a lot of action overseas if it has any hope of breaking even.
Last week’s number one film, Happy Death Day fell 64 percent (a typically steep drop for horror film) to come in at number three with $9.4 million. After 10 days, it’s amassed $40 million in receipts on a $5 million budget, as Blumhouse Pictures puts another film in the win column. Blade Runner 2049 comes in at number four this weekend with $7.3 million, as it approaches the $75 million mark domestic. It has also scored $100 million overseas before its China release, so all is not lost for the $150 million film.
Fifth place goes to another of the weekend’s new releases, the terribly titled Only the Brave. It’s a really good film (90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), but audiences simply weren’t into the searing true story of 19 brave firefighters who perished in a wildfire back in 2013. I saw it; it was devastating, and I can’t imagine that anyone in California — where they are dealing with deadly wildfires — would have any appetite for the film. It made $6.2 million on a $35 million budget, but it is also the kind of film that will do very well in the home digital market before beginning a decade-long run on basic cable. It’s better suited to home viewers where hard liquor is more readily available. It’s necessary.
With $5.4 million, Jackie Chan’s The Foreigner continues to perform decently. It has earned $22 million after 10 days, in addition to the $90 million its amassed overseas. Not bad for a film that cost only $35 million.
Michael Fassbender’s The Snowman could only muster 9 percent on Rotten Tomatoes (and that’s generous, because it has a 0 percent among Top Critics), and its box-office reflects its critical score. The $35 million film opened with only $3.6 million. Director Tomas Alfredson clearly would have been better off it he’d shot the entire script because what made it to the big screen is a mess.
Slots eight through ten are all holdovers. IT is still kicking with $3.28 million, $320 million overall, and $636 million worldwide (reminder: The budget was only $35 million). American Made earned $3.25 million; the $50 million film has earned $115 million worldwide now. Tenth place goes to Kingsman: The Golden Circle which also adds $3 million and inches closer to the $100 million mark with $94 million domestic (and $300 million worldwide).
The one other wide release this weekend, Same Kind of Different As Me, failed to crack the top ten, earning only $1.3 million.
Next weekend should see a small jolt with the return of the Saw franchise. Jigsaw is the first Saw film in seven years, and it should rake in Halloween audiences for at least one weekend. It will face off against George Clooney’s Suburbicon starring Matt Damon and Thank You For Your Service, the second Miles Teller movie in as many weekends (Only the Brave also stars Teller).
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that, though the weekend’s new releases didn’t produce any big hits, it did produce some exceptional reviews from Vince Mancini (Only the Brave) and Mike Ryan (Geostorm).
(Via Deadline, Box Office Mojo)
