Halloween isn’t until Tuesday, but the weekend beforehand is always a dead zone for theaters as most people are too occupied with other festivities to head to the cineplex. Playing it safe, Lionsgate unleashed the $10M-budgeted eighth movie in the ‘Saw’ franchise, ‘Jigsaw’ which took the top spot with a modest $16.25M. This is a new low for this brand. Critics largely panned it, with a 42% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences granted it a B CinemaScore.
The majority of the Top Five was a repeat of last week’s results, just shifted down to make room for ‘Jigsaw’. Tyler Perry’s ‘Boo 2! A Madea Halloween’ slipped to the #2 spot, earning an additional $10M. Disaster flick ‘Geostorm’ came in at #3 with $5.67M. ‘Happy Death Day’ made an additional $5.09M to land at #4, while ‘Blade Runner 2049’ took in $4M for #5.
- Jigsaw (Lionsgate) – $16.25M
- Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (Lionsgate) – $10M
- Geostorm (Warner Brothers) – $5.67M
- Happy Death Day (Universal/Blumhouse) – $5.09M
- Blade Runner 2049 (Warner Brothers/Sony) – $4M
Two movies attempted to draw older viewers, but neither worked. PTSD drama ‘Thank You For Your Service’ proved too heavy in its subject matter and is therefore not drawing the Red State crowds that ‘American Sniper’ did in 2014. Those that saw it praised it, with an A- CinemaScore and a nice 77% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But with only $3.7M, there just weren’t enough people checking it out.
Coming in even lower, with $2.8M, ‘Suburbicon’ marks a new low opening for a Matt Damon movie. This film, directed by George Clooney, is just not impressing anyone, with a terrible D- CinemaScore and 26% rotten rating.
Next weekend should shake up the box office as ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ arrives. While that movie should appeal to most demographics, STX is still offering an alternative, ‘A Bad Moms Christmas’. While ‘Thor’ should easily land the #1 spot, will ‘Bad Moms’ do well enough to take #2? Check back and see!
Source: Deadline
