Madea scared off all the other sequels at the box office!
Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween won the box office this weekend, besting Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher: Never Go Back with $27.6 million from 2,260 theaters, while it’s competitor earned $23 million from 3,780 theaters.
“The star power of Madea and Tyler Perry is undeniable,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. “It’s perfectly timed and perfectly themed and it just paid off. Tom Cruise is used to being No. 1, but in this case, Madea was a very formidable competitor.”
Moviegoers seemed to be fonder of the Halloween blockbuster, giving Madea an A CinemaScore and Jack Reacher a B-plus rating. Meanwhile, critics gave Perry’s comedy a meager 29 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes, while Cruise’s action flick earned a 40 percent “fresh” score.
Jack Reacher – starring Cruise as Reacher, an ex-military investigator who must uncover the truth behind a major government conspiracy – debuts four years after the first film, which earned $218.3 million worldwide in 2012. While the film placed in second place domestically, Never Go Back managed to rack up $54 million globally.
“He’s a true international box-office star. There aren’t very many of those,” said Jeff Bock, senior box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. “It’s the overseas box office that really will put this into trilogy land.”
The other two wide releases this weekend included Ouija: Origin of Evil and Keeping Up With the Joneses, which fell in third place and seventh place, respectively.
Universal’s Origin of Evil – the follow up to 2014’s Ouija – debuted with $14.1 million from 3,167 theaters. Set in the 1960s, the horror sequel centers on a scam séance artist who unwittingly invites evil spirits into her home.
“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.
Ouija managed to receive a strong 81 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, but a C CinemaScore from moviegoers.
Starring Jon Hamm, Gal Gadot, Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher, Fox’s comedy Keeping Up With the Joneses earned just $5.6 million from 3,022 locations. It received a B-minus CinemaScore from audiences and a 17 percent “fresh” Rotten Tomatoes Score from critics.
Rounding out the top five includes holdovers The Accountant ($14 million) and The Girl on the Train ($7.3 million) – taking fourth and fifth place at the box office.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: October 21-23
- Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween — $27.6 million
- Jack Reacher: Never Go Back — $23 million
- Ouija: Origin Of Evil — $14.1 million
- The Accountant — $14 million
- The Girl On The Train — $7.3 million
- Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children — $6 million
- Keeping Up With The Joneses — $5.6 million
- Kevin Hart: What Now? — $4.1 million
- Storks — $4.08 million
- Deepwater Horizon — $3.6 million
