By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Amid more tricks than treats the debut of Boo 2! A Madea Halloween emerged as box office leader with an estimated $21.6 million. Four other national releases struggled and sputtered for attention. Audiences were cool to Geostorm’s global warming maelstrom which grossed $13.3 million and were frigid to based-on-fact Only the Brave about doomed firefighters that opened to $5.9 million. It didn’t help that the director of The Snowman — based on the Jo Nesbø bestseller — disowned the film, which sank with $3.4 million. The faithful departed from Same Kind of Different from Me, with had a $2.6 million box office.
Exclusive openers saw good starts for the doc Jane with $53,300 from three conservatories, and Wonderstruck at $67,600 at four venues. Also off to a good start was The Killing of a Sacred Deer with $114,000 from four screens. In the awards sweepstakes, neither Goodbye Christopher Robin nor Breathe found traction in initial expansions.
The Diwali holiday saw a clutch of potent Indian releases including Hindi Golmaal Again, which bowed with $921,000. Also strong were Telugu Mersal with $767,000 and Hindi Secret Superstar at $734,000. In Québec, local zombie thriller Les affamés failed to bite with a $43,400 opener from 22 screens.
Revenues for the session came just shy of $100 million and ebbed 4% from the prior weekend. It was a more significant 22% decline from 2016 when the first Boo! led with $28.5 million and was followed by newcomers Jack Reacher: Never Go Back with $22.9 million and Ouija: Origin of Evil, which grossed $14.1 million.
The Boo! sequel was tracking to lead and the question was just how much Tyler Perry’s base would erode from the original. The consensus was around 15% and the actuality was closer to 25%.The filmmaker sustains a loyal fanbase. Exit polling identified viewers as 65% female and 65% 25 and older.
Geostorm opened a week ago in Asian territories to about $9.5 million and was expected to gross $10-$12 million in its domestic debut. The current weekend also saw the addition of 42 overseas territories that generated roughly $36 million including a $5.4 million opening in Korea. Bows in Russia and Mexico added $5 million and $4 million, respectively. Exit polls domestically saw a 56% male crowd with 77% 25 and older.
The heartbreak of the week was Only the Brave, based on the tragedy of firefighters battling a 2013 forest fire in Arizona. But audiences appear to be wrung out by current events and sated by natural catastrophes. It audience was 54% male and 75% 25 and older.
| Weekend (estimates) October 20 – 22, 2017 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Boo 2! A Madea Halloween | Lionsgate | 21.6 (9,060) | NEW | 2388 | 21.6 |
| Geostorm | WB | 13.3 (4,090) | NEW | 3246 | 13.3 |
| Happy Death Day | Uni | 9.4 (2,840) | -64% | 3298 | 40.7 |
| Blade Runner 2046 | WB | 7.2 (2,240) | -54% | 3203 | 74 |
| Only the Brave | Sony | 5.9 (2,290) | NEW | 2577 | 5.9 |
| The Foreigner | STX/VVS | 5.5 (2,180) | -58% | 2515 | 22.9 |
| It | WB | 3.5 (1,360) | -43% | 2560 | 320.2 |
| The Snowman | Uni | 3.4 (1,890) | NEW | 1812 | 3.4 |
| American Made | Uni | 3.1 (1,230) | -43% | 2559 | 45.5 |
| Kingsman: The Golden Circle | Fox | 3.0 (1,300) | -44% | 2318 | 94.6 |
| The Mountain Between Us | Fox | 2.7 (870) | -52% | 3151 | 25.5 |
| Same Kind of Different as Me | Pure Flix | 2.6 (1,900) | NEW | 1362 | 2.6 |
| The Lego Ninjago Movie | WB | 2.2 (1,030) | -50% | 2102 | 54.7 |
| Victoria & Abdul | Focus | 2.1 (2,020) | -29% | 1060 | 14.8 |
| My Little Pony | Lionsgate | 1.9 (840) | -52% | 2301 | 18.5 |
| Marshall | Open Road | 1.5 (1,790) | -51% | 821 | 5.4 |
| Golmaal Again | Reliance | .92 (3,470) | NEW | 265 | 0.92 |
| Mersal | ATMUS | .77 (4,760) | NEW | 161 | 1.5 |
| Secret Superstar | Zee Studios | .73 (3,480) | NEW | 211 | 0.8 |
| The Florida Project | A24 | .61 (5,470) | 67% | 112 | 1.3 |
| Battle of the Sexes | Fox Searchlight | .57 (1,050) | -57% | 545 | 11.4 |
| Loving Vincent | Good Deed | .39 (3,450) | 19% | 114 | 1.3 |
| Flatliners | Sony | .24 (460) | -84% | 535 | 16.4 |
| Professor Marston and the Wonder Women | Annapurna | .22 (230) | -70% | 959 | 1.3 |
| Despicable Me 3 | Uni | .19 (580) | -20% | 337 | 263.3 |
| Mark Felt: Man Who Brought Down the White House | Sony Classics | .19 (570) | 60% | 332 | 0.49 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $92.60 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -22% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -4% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Breathe | Bleecker Street | .16 (500) | 614% | 315 | 0.18 |
| Goodbye Christopher Robin | Fox Searchlight | .15 (2,520) | 166% | 61 | 0.23 |
| Raja the Great | Blue Sky | .14 (1,280) | 108 | 0.35 | |
| Tokyo Ghoul | Fun Film | .12 (1,180) | 104 | 0.37 | |
| A Silent Voice | 11Arts | .12 (4,920) | 24 | 0.12 | |
| The Killing of a Sacred Deer | A24 | .11 (28,300) | 4 | 0.11 | |
| Lucky | Magnolia | .11 (1,200) | -3% | 93 | 0.53 |
| Never Say Die | Media Asia | 86,700 (3,610) | -47% | 24 | 1.1 |
| Wonderstruck | Roadside Attractions | 67,600 (16,900) | 4 | 0.07 | |
| Jane | Abramorama | 53,300 (17,770) | 3 | 0.05 | |
| Les Affames | Seville | 43,400 (1,970) | 22 | 0.04 | |
| Leatherface | Lionsgate | 15,900 (690) | 23 | 0.02 | |
| Tragedy Girls | Gunpowder & Sky | 11,600 (5,800) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| RV: Resurrected Victims | Well Go | 9,400 (860) | 11 | 0.01 | |
| The Paris Opera | Film Movement | 7,500 (1,870) | 4 | 0.01 | |
| Dealt | IFC | 5,100 (5,100) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| The Sacrifice (reissue) | Kino | 4,500 (4,500) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 2 – October 19, 2017) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office (millions) | Market Share | |||
| Warner Bros. (20) | 1715.9 | 20.20% | |||
| Universal (14) | 1400.7 | 16.40% | |||
| Buena Vista (8) | 1382.1 | 16.20% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (22) | 1102.9 | 13.00% | |||
| Sony (18) | 800.2 | 9.40% | |||
| Lionsgate (17) | 587.5 | 6.90% | |||
| Paramount (14) | 405.6 | 4.80% | |||
| Focus (14) | 130.4 | 1.50% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (7) | 118.3 | 1.40% | |||
| STX (7) | 101.3 | 1.20% | |||
| Open Road (8) | 95.2 | 1.10% | |||
| CBS (4) | 68.7 | 0.80% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (10) | 55.5 | 0.65% | |||
| Entertainment (3) | 51.1 | 0.60% | |||
| Bleecker Street (5) | 48.4 | 0.55% | |||
| A24 (10) | 42.9 | 0.50% | |||
| Other * (314) | 406.3 | 4.80% | |||
| 8513 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than .04% | |||||
| Top Domestic Grossers (January 2 – October 19, 2017) | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
| Beauty and the Beast | BV | 504,014,165 | |||
| Wonder Woman | WB | 412,501,742 | |||
| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | BV | 389,813,101 | |||
| Spider-Man: Homecoming | Sony | 333,616,415 | |||
| It | WB | 316,734,616 | |||
| Despicable Me 3 | Uni | 263,074,020 | |||
| Logan | Fox | 226,277,068 | |||
| The Fate of the Furious | Uni | 225,966,192 | |||
| Dunkirk | WB | 187,630,833 | |||
| The Lego Batman Movie | WB | 175,969,510 | |||
| Get Out | Uni | 175,589,248 | |||
| The Boss Baby | Fox | 174,999,965 | |||
| Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales | BV | 172,610,484 | |||
| Kong: Skull Island | WB | 168,583,087 | |||
| Hidden Figures * | Fox | 167,061,097 | |||
| Cars 3 | BV | 152,770,233 | |||
| War for the Planet of the Apes | Fox | 146,699,016 | |||
| Split | Uni | 138,280,171 | |||
| Transformers: The Last Knight | Par | 130,656,140 | |||
| La La Land * | Lionsgate | 116,956,426 | |||
| * does not include 2016 box office | |||||
