Inferno’s Failure Burns Sony’s Dan Brown Franchise; The Accountant Shows Strong Staying Power and Storks Proves To Be Resilient
Robert Langdon’s Done. What About Ron Howard?
Everyone thought that Inferno was going to open number one this weekend. Everyone was also pretty sure that it would be a fairly soft opening, so the question is which is the bigger surprise; Inferno’s weaker than expected 15 million dollar debut or the fact that it was only able to open second as Madea’s Halloween defied expectations a second straight week and claimed the weekend box office title twice in a row.
There’s a lot to unpack here. Inferno’s domestic performance is, without a doubt, a catastrophe. It isn’t merely the lowest of the three Dan Brown adaptations, it isn’t even on the same planet as the two previous films. In 2006, The Da Vinci Code opened with 77 million domestically on its way to 758 million worldwide despite a global boycott by Catholics and condemnation from the Vatican itself. In 2009, Angels and Demons opened with 46 million on its way to a world-wide gross of 486 million. While it was reasonable to expect the trend of declining box office to continue, this was a meltdown. It seems like the world has lost its appetite for Brown’s Robert Langdon thrillers. While the heavily embattled Da Vinci Code sold over 80 million copies worldwide, Inferno only sold six million (as one reviewer put it, tying to follow Da Vinci was impossible). Simply put, Inferno grossed less in its opening weekend than The Da Vinci Code did on its first day a decade ago.
But does Inferno’s obscenely low numbers only indicate that the franchise has run out of steam? Or is there possibly something more? Tom Hanks is still basking in the glow from Sully while Felicity Jones is prepping her passport for the media whirlwind to promote December’s blockbuster Star Wars: Rogue One, so Inferno’s stars are OK. But this is the fifth consecutive high-priced, high-profile box office disaster from director Ron Howard. Once considered box office gold, Howard’s string of financial bombs has probably got some major studios wondering if he should still be on their directing speed dial.
Sony wisely released Inferno in a lot of foreign markets two weeks ago and it’s already grossed 95 million overseas. But that’s a band-aid at best. Even though Inferno had a reasonable budget of 75 million, there is almost no way Sony can break even on this pic. Sony may have lost one major franchise this year after the unfortunate Ghostbusters debacle, and now it looks like it will have to put another one to bed as well. And maybe even a legendary director’s career.
Time To Respect Tyler Perry
Boo! A Madea’s Halloween wasn’t supposed to open as strong as it did last week, topping the box office with an eye-opening 28.5 million. And it wasn’t supposed to claim the number one spot this week either. But Madea scared up another 16.7 million this weekend to push its domestic total past 52 million. The reason Madea wasn’t supposed to be this successful? Because no one has ever truly appreciated or respected either the earning power of the Madea films or creator Tyler Perry as a filmmaker. No doubt Perry’s got a few blemishes on his directing record, but as I wrote last week, the Madea films are consistently successful. Cheap to produce, they earn between 21 and 30 million on their opening weekends like clockwork. Kudos Mr. Perry.
The Accountant’s Number Add Up
Last week Ben Affleck’s action film The Accountant weathered the arrival of four new films quite admirably, dropping from first to fourth and posting solid second weekend numbers. This week its . . . fourth again. Newcomer Ouija: Origin of Evil barely edged The Accountant for third place last week, but Universal’s fright flick didn’t have the legs to out distance Affleck this weekend. The Accountant managed to bring in another 8.5 million in its third frame, pushing its domestic total past 61 million. Ouija, meanwhile, experienced a near 50% drop and could only add a little over 7 million in its second weekend, claiming fifth spot. But Ouija’s 24.6 million total doesn’t look so bad when compared to its 9 million dollar production budget.
Turns Out Storks Has Some Wings
When Warner Animation Group released its animated family film Storks six weeks ago, it’s initial performance left a lot to be desired. But here we are, a month and a half later and the film about baby delivering birds is still in the top ten, taking 2.7 million extra this weekend. It now sits only 2 million shy of equaling its 70 million dollar production budget and when you factor in its 85 million foreign gross, it isn’t looking too shabby in the long run. Of course this is just WAG circling in a holding pattern until it releases The Batman Lego Movie next February (the first of two animated Lego movies coming next year).
And speaking of upcoming franchise releases, next week sees the long-awaited release of Dr. Strange, possibly the next super hero franchise from Disney/Marvel. The Benedict Cumberbatch super hero movie opens up an entirely new avenue in Marvel’s ever expanding (and insanely profitable) super hero universe the way Guardians of the Galaxy opened up space opera. And it’s tracking huge, with some estimates projecting it could hit 80 million dollars next weekend alone (it’s already cleaning up in foreign markets).
So until next time, have a Safe and Happy Hallowe’en and remember, when the trick or treaters come knocking, only give out the good stuff.
Picture: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Numbers: Box Office Mojo
