Boo, Bitches! A Madea Halloween Scares Off Ouija: Origin of Evil
For true horror fans, the scariest thing at the box office this Halloween season is hearing that Tyler Perry just became the king of the holiday. Or should we say that Madea just became the queen? Either way, “Boo, bitches!”
Let us begin with the week’s genuine horror offering and, really and truly, one of the only theatrically-released horror flicks this entire Halloween season. Has anyone actually tried asking Hollywood insiders why the month of October seems to scare them off from releasing bona fide horror films? You would think these four weeks would be the boom period for big screen fright flicks; yet, it seems like August/September, January/February, and early spring have become the go-to months for scary movies. Even the selection of VOD horror offerings this particular October feels weak compared to some previous Halloween seasons.
The original Ouija from 2014 opened to terrible reviews and over $19 million its first weekend. Mike Flanagan’s prequel Ouija: Origin of Evil is over 80% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, garnered rave reviews from just about every major horror site, yet only opened to $13 million, just narrowly edging out Ben Affleck’s autistic assassin flick The Accountant for third place by a mere $34,000, so reports Box Office Mojo.
The real kicker, however, is the dreaded Cinemascore; whoever these people are they poll gave Origin of Evil a “C” – exactly the same underwhelming response they gave the much-maligned first film.
The good news is that $13 million is still a solid opening for a low budget horror flick, and even if it grosses less overall than its predecessor, it is still all but assured to turn a profit for Universal. Origin of Evil opened #1 in Mexico and several Central and South American markets. Good money – just not Madea money.
In the US of A, the box office this weekend belonged in a big way to Boo! A Madea Halloween. Tyler Perry’s Halloween-themed comedy took #1 with a whopping $27.6 million. Not even Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher sequel could stop the Madea-naught. Audiences also rewarded Tyler Perry’s odd mix of bawdy humor and Christian moralizing with an “A” Cinemascore, so unless Tom Hanks’ Inferno opens huge, we could be looking at Boo! dominating Halloween weekend as well.
This also guarantees more Madea movies to come. I’m holding out hope for The Madea Chainsaw Massacre, Madea: Origin of Evil, Boom! A Madea Fourth of July, Bram Stoker’s Madeula, 3-MadDea, Madea and the Beast, It’s a Madea Madea Madea Madea World, Madea Comes to Frogtown, or Lamberto Bava’s Madeamons.
Unless you want to try and count the supernatural leanings of Doctor Strange and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as horror, the genre doesn’t return to the big screen until Aaron Eckhart battles demons in Incarnate on December 2nd.
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