‘Boo! 2’ Drives to $21 Million Opening While Other New Releases Crash

October doldrums continue at the box office

Boo 2 A Madea Halloween
Chip Bergman/Lionsgate

In a sluggish weekend for the box office, the only success to be found is Lionsgate’s “Boo! 2,” the ninth film in Tyler Perry’s “Madea” franchise. The $20 million film is on pace to hit its projected target with a $21 million opening from 2,388 screens. The horror comedy made $7.5 million on Friday, including $760,000 from Thursday previews.

Tyler Perry has never been a critical fave, and “Boo! 2” is no exception as it received an abysmal 8 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. But his legions of fans were not disappointed, bestowing an A- on CinemaScore.

But below “Boo! 2,” the box office is a mix of weak holdover returns and poor openings from new releases.

In second place is Warner Bros/Skydance’s “Geostorm,” a disaster epic with a $120 million budget that is tracking to make just $12.5 million from 3,246 screens. The film made just $4.3 million on Friday with no preview screenings, a rarity for a wide release. The Dean Devlin-directed disaster film also bombed with critics, scoring 13 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were also mixed, giving it a B- on CinemaScore.

In third is “Happy Death Day,” which won last weekend with a solid $26 million opening but is now on pace to drop off more than 60 percent with $9.3 million from just under 3,300 screens.

Warner Bros.’ “Blade Runner 2049” will take fourth with an estimated $6.5 million in its third weekend, bringing its domestic total to $73 million.

Completing the top five is Columbia’s “Only the Brave,” a true-story pic about the wildfire-fighting Granite Mountain Hotshots. “Only the Brave” is the only new release this weekend that has earned critics’ approval, earning an 89 percent RT “Fresh” rating and a sterling A on CinemaScore. But it is only estimated to make $6 million from 2,577 screens. The film has a reported budget of $35 million.

Outside the top 10 is Universal’s “The Snowman,” which has been savaged by critics and audiences alike with a 9 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a D on CinemaScore.

The Michael Fassbender thriller is expected to open to $3.6 million against a $35 million budget.

Meanwhile, Pure Flix’s faith-based film “Same Kind of Different as Me” is estimated to make $3 million from 1,362 screens.

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