"Boo! A Madea Halloween" Scares Its Way to the Top for 2nd Weekend

[JamesG]

Boo! Madea Tops Reacher Sequel, Moonlight Huge in Limited Release
by Brad Brevet
October 23, 2016


There is plenty to discuss in a weekend where Lionsgate's Boo! A Madea Halloween is crowned champion of the largest three-day weekend the 2016 box office has seen in over two months.

Boo!, along with fellow new releases Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Ouija: Origin of Evil and Keeping Up with the Joneses, generated 61.6% of the top twelve's overall gross of nearly $114 million, up 28% from last weekend and up 20% from last year.

The weekend also saw a stellar opening for A24's Moonlight in limited release, delivering the largest opening per theater average of the year.







Topping the weekend box office, Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween brought in a stellar $27.6 million from 2,260 theaters ($12,212 PTA), the largest opening for a Madea branded feature and for a Tyler Perry-directed film overall since 2009's Madea Goes to Jail.

As far as Madea-branded titles are concerned, after a couple of $25 million openings with 2011's Big Happy Family and 2012's Witness Protection, A Madea Christmas saw a bit of a drop as it opened in the holiday corridor in 2013 with $16 million and finished its domestic run just over $52.5 million.

Madea's three year absence from theaters must have been just what the character needed as audiences certainly showed up for this one, and with an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences it should hold over quite well with Halloween just a week away. How it plays following the holidays will determine just how much over $50 million it can bank.







In second we find Tom Cruise back as the title character in Paramount's Jack Reacher: Never Go Back with an estimated $23 million from 3,780 theaters ($6,085 PTA). The demographic breakdown saw the film play 57% male vs 43% female with 82% of the audience over the age of 25.

Looking ahead, while Never Go Back's opening is well above the $15.2 million debut for 2012's Jack Reacher, the response isn't nearly the same.



After its opening weekend, the first Jack Reacher held on throughout the holidays to finish with $80 million domestically (a 5.26x multiple). That film, however, was bolstered by strong reviews and an "A-" CinemaScore.

While Never Go Back's CinemaScore is just a notch lower at a "B+" you can look to things such as the film's 6.7/10 IMDb rating, which is .7 lower than Jack Reacher was the Sunday after its release, to help determine what kind of the buzz the film is receiving.



The 40% on RottenTomatoes isn't helping either, compared to the 62% for the original film. All told, this one may have to scratch and claw its way to $60+ million domestically, but all is not lost as international grosses accounted for 63% of the first film's worldwide revenue.







Third place is a bit of a battleground as Universal's Ouija: Origin of Evil narrowly edged out Warner's The Accountant in its sophomore session by a mere $35,000.

The prequel to 2014's Ouija brought in an estimated $14 million from 3,168 theaters ($4,438 PTA) on a $9 million budget, but while reviews for the film were glowing (81% on RottenTomatoes) compared to the original (7%), the opening day audience response was the same as both film's received a "C" CinemaScore.

The film's audience was split 50% female vs. 50% male with 57% of the audience coming in under the age of 25.



The original film debuted with $19.8 million despite those negative reviews and went on to gross just over $50 million with a 2.55x multiple.

Should Origin of Evil perform similarly we're talking about a domestic run around $36 million, which, given the budget, isn't anything to complain about, especially if the film can deliver internationally where it opened in 20 markets with an estimated $7.9 million this weekend.







The Accountant was in a virtual tie with Ouija for third, bringing in an estimated $14 million in its second weekend, representing a 43.2% drop.

This is a strong result given the fact it faced new competition in Jack Reacher as the film's domestic cume climbs to $47.9 million and $58.1 million worldwide.







Rounding out the top five is Universal's The Girl on the Train with an estimated $7.2 million (-40.6%) as it now stands just shy of $60 million domestically.

Internationally it added another $6.2 million as the film's worldwide cume has now topped $100 million on a $45 million budget.







Moving to seventh we find the fourth new wide release of the weekend, Fox's ensemble comedy Keeping Up with the Joneses, which didn't make much of a dent, bringing in an estimated $5.6 million from 3,022 theaters ($1,853 PTA).

This is nearly one million less than Relativity's Masterminds saw in its opening four weeks ago and that film fell out of over 1,500 theaters this weekend, looking to finish its domestic run with less than $20 million. Joneses may struggle to reach $18 million.







Outside the top ten, Pure Flix's I'm Not Ashamed didn't have much of an impact on the weekend, bringing in an estimated $900,000 from 505 theaters for a $1,782 per theater average.

And Lionsgate's American Pastoral, the directorial debut for Ewan McGregor, opened with $151k from 50 theaters for a $3,020 per theater average.







Delivering the largest opening per theater average of the year so far, A24's Moonlight opened with an estimated $413,174 from just four theaters for a $103,685 per theater average.

This ranks as one of the top 25 all-time opening averages as the film rides a wave of positive buzz, which includes a 99% on RottenTomatoes and 99% on Metacritic. The film will open in an additional markets this upcoming weekend before going nationwide November 4.







Also in limited release, Park Chan Wook's The Handmaiden, which Magnolia and Amazon Studios released in five theaters, brought in an estimated $91,600 ($18,320 PTA).

The film will expand into 25 markets this coming Friday.







Michael Moore is self-distributing his Donald Trump documentary Michael Moore in TrumpLand and the film brought in an estimated $50,200 from two theaters this weekend ($25,100 PTA) after opening on Wednesday.

Janus Films re-released 1985's Tampopo in one theater this weekend where it brought in an estimated $17,200.







Additionally, Focus World's In a Valley of Violence opened with an estimated $30,000 from 33 theaters ($909 PTA); Kino Lorber's foreign language Oscar contender Fire at Sea delivered $11,350 from two theaters ($5,675 PTA); IFC's King Cobra tallied $9,500 from one theater; Drafthouse's We are X opened with $8,300 from one theater; Hannover's Spices of Liberty premiered in one theater with $6,625; and Abramorama's The Uncondemned opened with an estimated $5,146 from one theater.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4234&p=.htm









October 21-23, 2016 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Boo! A Madea Halloween $27,600,000
2. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back $23,000,000
3. Ouija: Origin of Evil $14,060,000
4. The Accountant $14,025,000 / $47,920,381
5. The Girl on the Train $7,270,000 / $58,902,330
6. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children $6,000,000 / $74,431,835
7. Keeping Up with the Joneses $5,600,000
8. Kevin Hart: What Now? $4,110,000 / $18,941,645
9. Storks $4,085,000 / $64,714,528
10. Deepwater Horizon $3,625,000 / $55,270,671

[JamesG]

Inferno Has a Meltdown, Madea is #1 Again & Doctor Strange Opens with $86M Overseas
by Brad Brevet
October 30, 2016


Sony's Inferno experienced an opening weekend meltdown as the third film in the Robert Langdon series fell $10 million shy of expectations.

As a result, and thanks to a strong second weekend hold, Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween scored a second weekend atop the box office, dropping just 41% from its opening weekend.

Meanwhile, Disney and Marvel's Doctor Strange stormed the international box office. The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe opened in approximately half the overseas markets where it brought in an estimated $86 million ahead of its domestic release next weekend.







With an estimated $16.67 million Boo! A Madea Halloween took the #1 spot at the weekend box office domestically for a second week in a row. The film's cume has now grown to $52 million as it fell just 41% in its second weekend, a spectacular performance following the film's $28.5 million opening last weekend.

As noted in our weekend preview, Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection and Madea's Big Happy Family opened over $25 million and fell around 60% in their second weekends. Additionally, Perry's 2013 holiday feature A Madea Christmas dropped 48% in its second weekend, all to suggest Madea's Halloween would drop around 55% or so, especially given the large opening weekend.

Audience enthusiasm for the film, however, held on strong, proving that "A" CinemaScore was no fluke.







Therefore, it's a second place finish for the dismal opening weekend for Sony's Inferno. With an estimated $15 million from 3,576 theaters, Inferno's opening weekend was 67.5% off the $46.2 million opening for 2009's Angels & Demons and a far cry from The Da Vinci Code's $77 million opening ten years ago.

It will be interesting to see where this one ends up finishing as opening day audiences gave the film a "B+" CinemaScore. At this point it could truly flame out and struggle to reach $40 million.



The seven year gap in release dates between Inferno and Angels & Demons proves the decline in sales from the first film to the second didn't go unnoticed by the studio. As a result, Inferno was made for a reported $75 million, half the cost of Angels & Demons.

As a result, Sony isn't looking at a complete blood bath on the balance sheet, but it isn't exactly pretty.







Paramount's Jack Reacher: Never Go Back fell to third position in its second weekend, delivering an estimated $9.55 million for a 58.2% second weekend drop as the film appears to be fading relatively fast.

The Accountant, however, held on well yet again, dropping 38% in its third weekend with an estimated $8.47 million as its cume now climbs to $61.2 million.

Rounding out the top five is the only wide release horror film in theaters, Universal's Ouija: Origin of Evil, which dipped 50% in its second weekend with an estimated $7 million. The film's cume now stands at $24.6 million.







Elsewhere in the top ten Fox's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is now just shy of $80 million after taking in an estimated $3.97 million in its fifth weekend and FIP's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil delivered a strong $2.1 million from just 302 theaters ($7,070 PTA) for a tenth place finish.

The per theater champ for a second weekend in a row is A24's Moonlight, which expanded in to 36 theaters this weekend (+32) and brought in an estimated $900,826 ($25,023 PTA). The film will continue to expand into the top 25 markets next weekend.







In limited release China Lion's release of Mr. Donkey delivered an estimated $81,350 from 20 theaters ($4,068 PTA); Magnolia's Gimme Danger brought in $44k from three theaters ($14,675 PTA); A24's Oasis: Supersonic brought in $16,559 from 14 theaters after its debut on Wednesday; and Bow and Arrow's Shangri-La Suite delivered $13,344 from 25 theaters ($534 PTA).

Overall, the top twelve delivered $77 million this weekend, down 32% compared to last weekend. The result is, however, a 23% improvement over the same weekend last year, though one caveat is the fact this weekend last year marked 2015's worst weekend at the domestic box office.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4236&p=.htm









October 28-30, 2016 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Boo! A Madea Halloween $16,675,000 / $52,019,343
2. Inferno $15,000,000
3. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back $9,550,000 / $39,679,177
4. The Accountant $8,475,000 / $61,257,172
5. Ouija: Origin of Evil $7,070,000 / $24,638,625
6. The Girl on the Train $4,270,000 / $65,918,480
7. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children $3,975,000 / $79,879,180
8. Keeping Up with the Joneses $3,375,000 / $10,779,313
9. Storks $2,785,000 / $68,244,612
10. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil $2,135,000