The third weekend in October is starting to become the new home for the most crowded frame of the year. Last year, four new movies opened in wide release (The Last Witch Hunter,Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,Rock the KasbahandJem and the Holograms, although none could beatThe Martian, and two (Rock the KasbahandJem and the Holograms) didn’t even crack the top 10. This year, four more new movies opened in wide release, Lionsgate’s newMadeamovieBoo! A Madea Halloween, Paramount’sJack Reacher: Never Go Back, Universal’sOuija: Origin of Eviland 20th Century Fox’sKeeping Up With the Joneses. While all four new releases did crack the top 10,Boo! A Madea Halloweentook the top spot with $27.6 million.
Box Office Mojoreports that, despite opening in the fewest theaters among new releases this weekend (2,260), it easily had the best per-screen average with $12,212. However, thishorror-comedywasn’t embraced by the nation’s critics, with just a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This movie earned the third best opening in the seven-movie Madea franchise, behindMadea’s Family Reunion’s $30 million in 2006 andMadea Goes to Jail’s $41 million in 2009.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Backdebuted in second place with an estimated $23 million, debuting with roughly $8 million more than its predecessor, 2012’sJack Reacher. ThatLee Childadaptation opened with $15.2 million in a crowded December frame that also featured the debuts ofThis Is 40,The Guilt Tripand the 3D re-release ofMonsters Inc., all of which were defeated byThe Hobbitin its second weekend.Jack Reacherwould go on to earn $80 million domestically and $218.3 million worldwide from a $60 million budget. The top 5 is rounded out byOuija: Origin of Evilin third place with $14.06 million,The Accountantin fourth place with $14.02 million andThe Girl On the Trainin fifth place with $7.2 million. Since these two are so close together, it’s possible they could switch places when the actual numbers come in tomorrow.
Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) returns with his particular brand of justice in the highly anticipated sequelJack Reacher: Never Go Back. When Army Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), who heads Reacher’s old investigative unit, is arrested for Treason, Reacher will stop at nothing to prove her innocence and to uncover the truth behind a major government conspiracy involving soldiers who are being killed. Based uponJack Reacher: Never Go Back, authorLee Child’s 18th novel in the best-selling Jack Reacher series, that has seen 100 million books sold worldwide.
InBoo! A Madea Halloween, Madea winds up in the middle of mayhem when she spends a hilarious, haunted Halloween fending off killers, paranormal poltergeists, ghosts, ghouls, and zombies while keeping a watchful eye on a group of misbehaving teens.Tyler Perryreturns as Madea, with a supporting cast that includesBella Thorne,Cassi Davis,Andre Hall,Diamond White,Jimmy TatroandKian Lawley.Tyler Perrydirects from his own script, which was inspired by the fictitious Madea Halloween movie inChris Rock’s filmTop Five. Lionsgate then approachedPerryand suggested that they make the movie for real.
Inviting audiences again into the lore of the spirit board,Ouija 2tells a terrifying new tale as the follow-up to 2014’s sleeper hit that opened at number one. In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their séance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by the merciless spirit, this small family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side. The cast includesDoug Jones,Elizabeth Reaser,Henry Thomas,Kate Siegel,Lin ShayeandAnnalise Basso.
Keeping Up With the Jonesesfollows an ordinary suburban couple (Zach Galifianakis,Isla Fisher) who finds it’s not easy keeping up with the Joneses (Jon Hamm,Gal Gadot) - their impossibly gorgeous and ultra-sophisticated new neighbors - especially when they discover that Mr. and Mrs. “Jones” are covert operatives. The supporting cast of this action-comedy includesMaribeth Monroe,Ming Zhao,Jeff Chase,Cullen Moss,Kristi VonandDennise Renae Larson.Greg Mottola(Paul) directs from a script byMichael LeSieur(You, Me and Dupree).
The top 10 is rounded out byMiss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children($6 million),Keeping Up with the Joneses($5.6 million),Kevin Hart: What Now?($4.1 million),Storks($4 million) and
Deepwater Horizon($3.6 million). Also opening in limited release is A24’sMoonlight, which earned an astounding $414,740 from four theaters for an incredible $103,685 per-screen average. Magnolia’sThe Handmaidenalso fared well, taking in $91,600 from five theaters for a $18,320 per-screen average.Michael Moore’s surprise documentaryMichael Moore in Trumplandearned $50,200 from two theaters for an impressive $25,100 per-screen average. Focus World’s Focus World’sIn a Valley of Violenceearned $30,000 from 33 theaters for a horrendous $909 per-screen average. Lionsgate’sAmerican Pastoralearned $151,000 from 50 theaters for a middling $3,020 per-screen average and nd Drafthouse’sWe Are Xearned $8,300 from one theater. No box office data was released for Freestyle Releasing’sAutumn Lights, Kino Lorber’s documentaryFire at Seaand Independent’sGood Kids. It isn’t known if any of those films will expand nationwide in the weeks to come.
Looking ahead to next week, Sony Pictures’Inferno, the third Robert Langdon adventure starringTom Hanks, will be the only movie arriving in wide release. Magnolia’s documentaryGimme Danger, FIP’s dramaAe Dil Hai Mushkil, Argentum’s romanceNew Lifeand Paladin’s horror-thrillerThe Unspokenwill debut in limited release. Be sure to check back on Sunday for the box office estimates, and again on Tuesday for next week’s wave of predictions. Until then, take a look at our projected top 10 for the weekend of October 21.
