Weekend Projections: ‘Inferno’ Flames Out with $14.7M Domestic Start; ‘Madea Halloween’ To Add $14.5M; ‘Jack Reacher’ Sequel Eyes Another $9M

Saturday Update: Sony reports this morning that Inferno posted an opening day of $5.6 million, falling well shy of pre-release expectations. By comparison, that’s also 66 percent less than the opening day of Angels & Demons back in May 2009, marking an unfortunate downward turn for the franchise. For the weekend, Boxoffice is currently projecting a debut of $14.7 million, which would put it in a close race for first place with Boo! A Madea Halloween.

Speaking of Madea, that film added $4.59 million on Friday as it continues its solid run. With $39.9 million in the bank through eight days of play, the latest Tyler Perry comedy is eyeing a sophomore frame around $14.5 million.

Meanwhile, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back took in $2.9 million to start its second weekend. The three-day haul should come in around $9 million.

Overall, this weekend has historically been very soft as it precedes the beginning of the holiday movie season and coincides with Halloween on Monday. This year is particularly in the red thanks to Games 3,4, and 5 of the World Series taking place over the course of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, a series receiving particular national attention thanks to the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians each looking to end historically long championship droughts.

We’ll have complete weekend estimates from the studios and further analysis on Sunday. Our initial estimates are below.

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Inferno $14,700,000 3,576 $4,111 $14,700,000 1 Sony / Columbia
2 Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween $14,500,000 -49% 2,299 39 $6,307 $49,844,343 2 Lionsgate
3 Jack Reacher: Never Go Back $9,000,000 -61% 3,780 0 $2,381 $39,129,177 2 Paramount
4 The Accountant $8,000,000 -41% 3,402 70 $2,352 $60,782,172 3 Warner Bros.
5 Ouija: Origin of Evil $6,100,000 -57% 3,167 0 $1,926 $23,668,625 2 Universal
6 The Girl on the Train (2016) $4,200,000 -41% 2,758 -333 $1,523 $65,848,480 4 Universal
7 Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children $3,800,000 -36% 2,797 -336 $1,359 $79,704,180 5 Fox
8 Keeping Up with the Joneses $3,300,000 -40% 3,022 0 $1,092 $10,704,313 2 Fox
9 Storks $2,600,000 -35% 1,901 -244 $1,368 $68,059,612 6 Warner Bros.
10 Deepwater Horizon $2,100,000 -38% 2,054 -774 $1,022 $58,360,245 5 Lionsgate / Summit
11 Kevin Hart: What Now? $1,600,000 -61% 1,656 -911 $966 $21,828,555 3 Universal
12 The Magnificent Seven (2016) $1,300,000 -43% 1,330 -649 $977 $91,185,526 6 Sony / Columbia
13 Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life $1,200,000 -45% 1,295 -477 $927 $18,425,071 4 CBS Films / Lionsgate

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Ae Dil Hai Mushkil $2,200,000 302 $7,285 $2,200,000 1 FIP
2 Sully $870,000 -42% 855 -317 $1,018 $122,287,965 8 Warner Bros.
3 The Birth of a Nation (2016) $565,000 -38% 404 -229 $1,399 $15,092,151 4 Fox Searchlight
4 I’m Not Ashamed $420,000 -55% 516 11 $814 $1,607,984 2 Pure Flix
5 Queen of Katwe $260,000 -31% 238 -81 $1,092 $8,157,219 6 Disney
6 Finding Dory $150,000 -32% 165 -18 $909 $485,711,079 20 Disney
7 Masterminds (2016) $108,000 -63% 215 -305 $502 $17,279,644 5 Relativity Studios
8 Max Steel $105,000 -85% 281 -1753 $374 $3,754,399 3 Open Road

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Moonlight (2016) $850,000 111% 36 32 $23,611 $1,420,793 2 A24

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Friday Update: Sony reports this morning that Inferno nabbed $800,000 from early shows that began at 7pm in 2,874 locations on Thursday night. Unfortunately, that comes in noticeably shy of recent adult-driven thrillers like Jack Reacher: Never Go Back ($1.33 million), The Accountant ($1.35 million),  The Girl on the Train ($1.23 million), Deepwater Horizon ($860,000), and fellow Tom Hanks-starrer Sully ($1.35 million).

There’s always a chance that the target older audience may be opting for regular weekend shows instead, but considering the built-in audience for the adapted franchise, this debut signals an opening weekend that will now likely come in under $20 million.

Official Friday estimates and key weekend projections will be published here on Saturday morning.