Weekend Forecast for October 21-23, 2016
By Reagen Sulewski
October 21, 2016
More traditional horror is handled by Ouija: Origin of Evil, a movie that exists for some reason. A prequel to a 2014 film you vaguely remember, it revolves around an evil ouija board that actually summons evil spirits and causes possession, yada yada bargain basement Exorcist.
Credit where credit is due, though. The film cuts an excellent trailer with a great look thanks to a 1960s setting and a faux-Technicolor vibe. Reviews are solid, largely on the strength of the performance of child actress Lulu Wilson, who rides that innocent/unnerving line perfectly. This will likely suffer some on opening weekend in comparison to the $19 million of the original, but may show what qualifies as legs for a horror film if it can live up to the hype, and if Halloween weekend actually treats it well (never a sure thing). I'd expect $16 million.
Lastly of new films, there's Keeping Up With The Joneses, the second comedy in a month headed by Zach Galifianakis, after September's Masterminds. While that film had delays to blame, this one has little excuse and may not fare better. He and Isla Fisher star as a married couple whose new perfect-seeming neighbors, Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot, turn out to be international spies. Getting roped into their latest mission, hilarity and wackiness theoretically ensue with the clash between the suburban normalcy and debonair outsiders, but it's a premise that by all appearances falls flat.
Outside of the Hangover movies, Galifianakis really only has The Campaign to hang his hat on as far as far as hits. Even then, it seems as though he's generally rejected as a lead, faring much better as a supporting comedy character. This makes some sense, as he's quite a polarizing presence. Add in a Fisher performance that seems to lean to the shrill, and we're in tough sell territory. Hamm and Gadot are untested as comedy leads as well, making this a film that looks good on paper but that's fallen apart in execution, with stale, tired jokes and a cheap appearance. This seems destined for a weak $6 million opening.
The Accountant had a solid if unremarkable $24 million opening last weekend to lead the frame, and average word-of-mouth should keep it at about $14 million in its second weekend. Ultimately, this isn't bad for a truly odd premise for an action film, and it mostly serves to prove that Ben Affleck still has some heat as a solo lead.
The Girl on the Train took a huge dive in its second weekend. Getting cut in half to $12 million, it looks to top out at around $75 million, less than half of the comparable Gone Girl.
Kevin Hart's standup/action hybrid movie What Now opened to $11.7 million, showing some nice improvement over his previous concert film. Still, these are routinely one-weekend wonder films, and it should drop to about $6 million, while Miss Peregrine should hang around in relevance for one more weekend at about $5 million.
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Forecast: Weekend of October 21-23, 2016
|
Rank |
Film |
Number of
Sites |
Changes in Sites
from Last |
Estimated
Gross ($) |
|
1
|
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
|
3,780
|
New
|
22.6
|
|
2
|
Boo! A Madea Halloween
|
2,260
|
New
|
17.0
|
|
3
|
Ouija: Origin of Evil
|
3,168
|
New
|
16.5
|
|
4
|
The Accountant
|
3,332
|
No change
|
14.1
|
|
5
|
Keeping Up With The Joneses
|
3,022
|
New
|
6.7
|
|
6
|
The Girl on the Train
|
3,089
|
-152
|
6.3
|
|
7
|
Kevin Hart: What Now?
|
2,566
|
-1
|
5.3
|
|
8
|
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children
|
3,133
|
-702
|
5.0
|
|
9
|
Storks
|
2,145
|
-921
|
4.0
|
|
10
|
Deepwater Horizon
|
2,828
|
-575
|
3.8
|
Continued:
1
2
|
|
|
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