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 The latest film in the long-running Madea series racked up
$27.6 million. Comedian Chris Rock may be entitled to a
percentage of the gross. Creator Tyler Perry was inspired to
take his pistol-packing grandma trick-or-treating after Rock's
comedian character in 2014's "Top Five" joked that his latest
movie, a passion project about a slave revolt, was going
head-to-head at the box office with "Boo! A Madea Halloween."
What was once intended as satire eventually became a seasonally
appropriate reality.
"This isn't the end of the series, it's just the beginning,"
said Jeff Bock, box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations, who
noted that Perry also scored with 2013's "A Madea Christmas."
"There are so many holidays left. There's Easter, St. Patrick's
Day, and he hasn't even done a Thanksgiving one yet."
Don't look for "Boo!" to end up in the Oscar race or on many
reviewers' "ten best" lists, but the Halloween comedy is a hit
for distributor Lionsgate and reaffirms Perry's star power.
Despite being routinely derided by critics, the film series has
an extremely loyal fan base. Collectively they've earned nearly
$380 million, enjoying capacious profit margins given that most
of the movies cost less than a Papa John's Super Bowl spot to
produce. The latest Madea cost $20 million to make, and
attracted a more diverse crowd. Typically the films have an
audience that's between 80% and 90% African-American, but this
installment's crowd was only 60% African-American, with the rest
of ticket buyers made up largely of Caucasians and Hispanic
movie-goers.
"The film crossed over and it expanded the audience," said David
Spitz, co-president of domestic distribution at Lionsgate. "Madea
is such a beloved character and the timing helped. There are not
many comedies in the marketplace right now and Halloween is
right around the corner."
"Never Go Back" was right behind, with the action sequel earning
a solid $23 million. The film brought back Tom Cruise as Reacher,
an ex-military investigator with a penchant for ass-kicking. The
films are based on a popular series of books by Lee Childs, but
despite their best-selling pedigree, a sequel to "Jack Reacher"
wasn't exactly a given. The first film ended up making money for
Paramount in 2012, grossing $218.3 million worldwide on a
production budget of $60 million, but it wasn't exactly a
blockbuster. The film did, however, have a healthy after-life on
home entertainment platforms.
"It felt for awhile like every time I'd go on a plane, it was
the movie every person was watching," said Megan Colligan,
Paramount's president of worldwide distribution and marketing.
"It was a movie that expanded its audience."
The studio made sure that costs didn't escalate on the sequel,
keeping the budget locked at $60 million, a feat since most
franchises increase their spending with each subsequent
installment. They were rewarded for the cost consciousness.
"Never Go Back" improved on "Jack Reacher's" $15.2 million debut
from four years ago. It's worth noting, however, that the
previous film debuted days after the Sandy Hook elementary
school killings, which may have depressed turnout for the
violent adventure film. Overseas, "Never Go Back" performed
well, earning $31 million.
"Ouija: Origin of Evil," the follow-up to 2014's low-budget
horror hit "Ouija," picked up $14.1 million, a respectable
return given its $9 million budget. Universal distributed the
Blumhouse production, which got markedly better reviews than the
original, but couldn't translate the critical notices into a
bigger opening than its predecessor. The first film in the
series kicked off to $19.9 million before going on to make
$103.6 million globally. Platinum Dunes and Hasbro produced the
board game adaptation.
"Origin of Evil" is set in the 1960s and centers on a scam
seance artist who unwittingly invites evil spirits into her
home. The film's PG-13 rating meant its audience skewed younger,
with 57% of ticket-buyers clocking in under the age of 25.
Universal believes the film will benefit from the holiday next
week.
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"Based on the fact that we're the only wide release horror film on
Halloween, we're expecting to hold well," said Nick Carpou,
Universal's domestic distribution chief.
Last weekend's champ, Warner Bros.' "The Accountant," came in
fourth, holding well to pick up $14 million. That pushes the Ben
Affleck thriller's domestic total to $47.9 million.
DreamWorks Pictures' "The Girl on the Train" rounded out the top
five, earning $7.3 million. The adaptation of the literary hit about
an alcoholic who becomes obsessed with a missing woman has earned
$58.9 million after three weeks in theaters. Universal distributed
the film.
The weekend's other major new release, Fox's "Keeping Up with the
Joneses," flopped, eking out $5.6 million. The action-comedy about a
suburban couple who gets entangled in the world of international
espionage stars Jon Hamm, Zach Galifianakis, Gal Gadot, and Isla
Fisher. It's a rough start given its $40 million budget.
Among other releases, "The Met: Live in HD's" screening of Mozart's
Don Giovanni drew opera fans, grossing $1.7 million on more than 900
screens.
Faith-based distributor Pure Flix debuted "I'm Not Ashamed," a drama
about a victim of the Columbine High School shootings, to $900,000
on 505 theaters.
Michael Moore waded into the presidential election with "Michael
Moore in TrumpLand," a film of a one-man stage performance that the
documentary filmmaker delivered in Ohio, all but begging the Rust
Belt to abandon the Donald. The film earned $50,200 on two screens
for a $25,100 per-screen average.
In a statement, Moore said, "This film speaks to and is being
enjoyed by many constituencies, namely the 50% of the country
planning not to vote, or those voting third party, but also among
Clinton supporters and even Trump voters who know better. I'm
convinced now that as millions of Americans will see this movie, it
will have an impact on this election."
Rapturous critical notices lifted "Moonlight" at the art house box
office this weekend. The film was bolstered by a love letter from
the New York Times' A.O. Scott, who labeled it "breathtaking" and
stopped short of declaring it 2016's best film with two months left
to go in the year. The A24 release earned an impressive $414,740 on
four screens, for a sizzling $103,685 per-screen average. That sets
it up nicely as the indie distributor looks to expand the drama
about a gay boy coming-of-age in the inner city of Miami. It could
also bolster "Moonlight's" Oscar chances.
It's been a rough fall movie season, with ticket sales down more
than 12%, but things appear to be on the upswing. Revenues were up
18% from the year-ago period, when "The Last Witch Hunter" and
"Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" both bombed. Analysts
believe the box office is poised for a rebound, with several
big-budget offerings hitting theaters in the coming weeks, such as
"Inferno" with Tom Hanks and Marvel's "Doctor Strange."
"This should be the start of a turnaround," said Paul Dergarabedian,
senior media analyst with ComScore. "After hitting rock bottom, now
we begin climbing back."
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