Box Office Breakdown: Will Tyler Perry Ever Use His Powers For Good?

Boo! A Madea Halloween wins the weekend against tough competition and I lose a little more faith in humanity.  

Tyler Perry has a command over his audience like very few filmmakers, and its fascinating as hell.  I don't know what is more interesting, that his lowest common denominator stereotype-driven brand of cinema continuously rakes in big bucks, or the fact that major studios still look at his success as this crazy phenomenon that couldn't have been predicted.  Perry is successful because he speaks to an audience that has felt neglected by the entertainment industry since, well, forever.  Now that Perry has come along, people are so grateful they overlook the fact that his creative plan for Madea seems to have been copied from the Jim Varney Ernest films of the 80s and 90s (If Madea goes to camp in her next movie, you heard it here first).  Tyler Perry fans deserve better, but as long as studios continue to neglect them, his brand will be king. 

In second place this weekend comes Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, which despite middling reviews and less than stellar audience reactions was able to ride the popularity of the first Jack Reacher film to a more than fifty percent increase over that film's initial weekend gross.  Impressive, but the poor reception will likely hinder the film in the long run causing it to have a hard time matching the original's word-of-mouth driven $80 million box office total.  Of course, I'm sure millionaire Tom Cruise will survive.  For now, this has to feel like nothing but a win for both the studio and Cruise.

A few other notes:  

Ouija: Origin of Evil opened in third but made more than its budget, proving once again that teens will shell out their hard-earned cash for practically any horror movie if its released in October.  Ben Affleck's star power held from last week despite the direct competition with Reacher, as The Accountant picked up another $14 Million.  And finally, Keeping Up With the Joneses bombed hard, which should really surprise that one guy who was looking forward to it.

Check out the full estimated top ten*:

1. Boo! A Madea Halloween - $27.6 million
2. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back - $23 million
3. Ouija: Origin of Evil - $14.1 million
4. The Accountant - $14 million
5. The Girl on the Train - $7.3 million
6. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - $6 million
7. Keeping Up With the Joneses - $5.6 million
8. Kevin Hart: What Now? - $4.1 million
9. Storks - $4 million
10. Deepwater Horizon - $3.6 million

Wide releases next weekend: Inferno, American Pastoral

*Stats courtesy of boxofficemojo.com