By Dave McNary
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - Tyler Perry has prevented a disaster at the box office with the opening of Lionsgate's comedy sequel "Boo 2! A Madea Halloween" scaring up a solid $21.7 million at 2,388 North American locations.
That was pretty much the limit of good news at the nation's multiplexes, where moviegoers gave limited support to a quartet of new arrivals -- weather-disaster title "Geostorm," firefighter hero tale "Only the Brave," murder mystery "The Snowman" and faith-based drama "Same Kind of Different as Me."
"Boo 2! A Madea Halloween," which received an A- CinemaScore, is finishing in line with expectations and about 25% behind original "Boo! A Madea Halloween," which won its opening weekend last year. The sequel, set at a haunted campground, is directed and written by Perry, who also stars in his ninth iteration as the tough-talking Madea.
Warner Bros.' "Geostorm," starring Gerard Butler, is finishing a distant second place with about $13.3 million at 3,246 venues -- at the top end of modest forecasts but a major disappointment given the film's estimated $100 million budget, financed by Warner Bros. and Skydance Media. Movieigoers gave "Geostorm" a B- CinemaScore. The timing of the release, with hurricanes hitting hard in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico over the past two months, probably dampened enthusiasm.
On the international side, "Geostorm" took in $36.4 million at 13,000 screens with first-place finishes in 36 territories to lift its international total to $49 million. South Korea and Russia were the strongest new markets.
Black Label Media's "Only the Brave," distributed by Sony, is heading for fifth place with $6 million at 2,577 sites, finishing behind Universal's second weekend of "Happy Death Day" at $9.4 million and Warner's third weekend of "Blade Runner 2049" at about $7.4 million. "Only the Brave," is based on the story of the 19 Arizona firefighters who died in the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, has received stellar critical support with a 90% "fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes. STXfilms' second weekend of Jackie Chan actioner "The Foreigner" will land in sixth with about $5.6 million, ahead of Universal's "The Snowman," which is finishing far below forecasts with $3.4 million at 1,812 venues. "The Snowman," produced by Working Title, is in a tie with New Line's seventh weekend of horror blockbuster "It," which will win up with a total of $320 million domestically after 45 days.
"The Snowman" fell flat with audiences, who gave it a D CinesmaScore while critics panned the movie with a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Pure Flix's "Same Kind of Different as Me" debuted out of the top 10 with about $1.4 million at 1,362 sites. OLUSENT Reuters US Online Report Entertainment News 20171022T164933+0000