Filmmaker Tyler Perry is continuing to scare away the competition by beating Tom Hanks‘ Inferno to remain atop the North American box office chart.
Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween, in which the actor/director reprises his role as his cross-dressing Madea character, made Tom Cruise settle for second place with Jack Reacher: Never Go Back last week (ends 23Oct16), and now the horror comedy has remained at number one for a second week, adding $16.7 million (£13.7 million) to its haul.
Following its initial box office success, Perry admitted the ongoing popularity of Madea continues to surprise him.
“I’ve said this many times and I’ll say it again: The minute the audience stops coming that old broad is dead,” he laughed to TheWrap.com. “But every time I say it they show up. So, as long as they want her to, she’ll be around. But I’m determined not to be her age playing her. I’m just really grateful the audience showed up. My audience is like the country music audience – they’re so loyal, so faithful, and as always, I’m grateful to them.”
Madea upset another big blockbuster, leaving Inferno, directed by Ron Howard, in its dust, opening at number two with $15 million (£12.3 million).
The figure for the third installment of The Da Vinci Code franchise falls far short of experts’ predictions, which had pegged Inferno’s debut in U.S. and Canada at between $20 million (£16.4 million) and $30 million (£24.6 million).
Inferno, which garnered poor reviews from many critics, is also the lowest opening for the movies based on author Dan Brown‘s books – the original film scored $77.1 million (£63.2 million) upon its release in 2006, while its sequel, 2009’s Angels & Demons, launched with $46 million (£37.7 million).
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back slips to third on the new countdown, while Ben Affleck‘s The Accountant and Ouija: Origin of Evil, rounds out the new top five, respectively.
