October remains a lukewarm month at the box office, as this weekend’s returns confirm. The No. 1 movie in North America, Tyler Perry’s “Boo 2! A Madea Halloween,” debuted to an estimated $21.7 million, dipping from the $28.5 million that its predecessor, “A Madea Halloween,” earned last year.
The weekend’s other new wide releases trailed “Madea.” The disaster flick “Geostorm” hit No. 2 with $13.3 million in grosses, an especially tepid figure considering the movie cost a massive $120 million to make. The firefighter drama “Only the Brave” lit up approximately $6 million, securing the No. 5 spot, while “The Snowman” melted altogether. The critically derided thriller netted an embarrassing $3.4 million, landing at No. 8.
If the was any good news in the national moviegoing department, it was “Happy Death Day,” the surprise horror hit that debuted at No. 1 last week. That movie collected another $9.4 million, landing at No. 3 in it sophomore outing. That brings its cumulative grosses to about $41 million, an excellent mark for a project that reportedly cost $4.8 million.
Holdovers “Blade Runner 2049” (No. 4), “The Foreigner” (No. 6), “It” (No. 7), “American Made” (No. 9) and “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” (No. 10) round out the Top 10.
The new faith-based drama “Same Kind of Different as Me,” filmed in 2014, couldn’t pray its way into the Top 10. Starring Greg Kinnear, Renée Zellweger and Djimon Hounsou, the movie took in a piddly $2.6 million.
In a crowded weekend for newcomers, limited-release titles fared well financially. The best of them were “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” “Wonderstruck” and “Jane,” all of which expand beyond New York and Los Angeles in the coming weeks.
Starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman, “Sacred Deer” is the latest film from Yorgos Lanthimos, who made “The Lobster,” one of 2016′s primo indie hits. “Wonderstruck” marks the new Todd Haynes joint, and “Jane” is a documentary about primatologist Jane Goodall, directed by “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck” maestro Brett Morgen.
