Inferno' Gets Burned at Box Office; 'Madea Halloween' Stays on Top

"Inferno" flamed out at the box office this weekend.

Tom Hanks's latest turn in the Robert Langdon series was beat out by "Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween," which surprised Hollywood by holding the No. 1 spot, taking in $16.7 million in the U.S. and Canada.

"Inferno" barely made a flicker, with an estimated $15 million opening, which put it in second place, well below expectations for the movie, which arrived with no new competition. Holdover "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" came in third, at $9.6 million.

Like so many movies in today's Hollywood, "Inferno," released by Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Entertainment, will have to lean hard on overseas returns to make up for lost ground in North America. Its global gross is approaching $150 million.

The domestic opening of "Inferno" is well behind its predecessors in the series. "The Da Vinci Code" rode enthusiasm for the best-selling book to a $77 million opening in 2006, and "Angels & Demons" followed in 2009, with a $46 million debut.

"Inferno," which had a budget of about $90 million, hit theaters after several weeks of well-performing, adult-oriented fare like Mr. Hanks's own "Sully" and "The Girl on the Train." That may have led to some moviegoing fatigue in "Inferno's" target audience, and the World Series likely stole some of the older males who make up the movie's core demographic, said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of world-wide distribution.

"We ran into some rough breaks," said Mr. Bruer. Overseas grosses will help offset domestic returns, he said.

A Halloween theme also likely helped "Boo!," which was released by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., keep its top spot. The movie fell only 41% in its weekend performance, bringing its two-week total to a hit $52 million.

Overseas, Walt Disney Co.'s comic-book adaptation "Doctor Strange" has already started raking in ticket sales in several markets, collecting $86 million ahead of its North American debut on Nov. 4.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 30, 2016 21:55 ET (01:55 GMT)

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