BOX OFFICE PREVIEW OCTOBER 28 2016

THIS WEEK’S TOP PICK

INFERNO

There are slim pickings this week in terms of new releases, with Sony’s latest adaptation of a Dan Brown novel being the only new wide release hitting theaters this weekend. While there is little doubt it will hit the number one spot over the weekend, this is by no means a recommendation for the shambolic thriller that is trending dreadfully with critics (23% on rottentomatoes.com) and the knives certainly came out for it in our review here.

In a way, this makes it good news that Ron Howard’s latest attempt to breathe some life into this most languid of franchises is expected to open with a significantly lesser sum to its predecessors and should have Sony questioning whether it’s worth carrying on the series. Inferno will do well to even take home $25 million based on its paltry take of $800,000 in its Thursday night previews. That would leave it with a 45% deficit to Angels & Demons’s opening 7 years ago, but even $25 million is optimistic as a severe trend of diminishing returns looks to continue with the franchise (The Da Vinci Code‘s opening was 208% higher than Inferno‘s projected takings).

Tom Hanks’ presence should ensure it at least gains $20 million, though, as his stock has been riding high again over the last few months thanks to his acclaimed performance in Clint Eastwood’s Sully and a warmly received appearance on SNL last Saturday. But Robert Langdon has always been a poor fit for one of America’s favorite stars and is unlikely to win much of a new audience at the third attempt, so chances are this is a fan-only affair (which based on the book’s sales is still considerable).

BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS

With there being only one new release this weekend -and a critically mauled one at that- this should be a good week for holdovers and allow audiences to catch up on movies they might have missed last weekend. However, theaters will face serious competition from appointment based viewing this weekend as the Cubs compete in the World Series for the first time in 70 years and this will undoubtedly have a huge impact in the key market of Chicago.

It’s very unlikely the box office will top $100 million overall during the next three days as last week’s surprise number one, Boo! A Madea Halloween, is expected to drop off by some 60% (a typical rate for a Tyler Perry film). Jack Reacher: Never Go Back should fare slightly better and drop off at around 45% to finish just above Perry’s latest in second place with about $12.5 million.

Analysts are predicting Warners’ The Accountant to snatch fourth place but we’re going to stick our necks out and say Universal’s Ouija: Origin of Evil will steal this spot as it’s the only the horror movie on wide release on Halloween weekend. The supposedly excellent prequel had a slightly disappointing opening last weekend with only $14 million to its name but could be looking at a drop off of a mere 30% to stay ahead of the Ben Affleck thriller.

It’s looking very likely that October 2016’s box office woes will return this weekend and will end up with the lowest take for the month overall in 20 years. After such a lowly month, Marvel Studios’ highly anticipated Doctor Strange -which is already on release internationally- cannot come soon enough to domestic theaters to kick off November. You can see what we have to say about Marvel’s latest in our full review on Cavalcade.news tomorrow.