Tom Hanks may have had a solid run with Sully earlier this season, but his latest thriller Inferno doesn't look like it'll be making a big impression anytime soon. The Ron Howard directed threequel was the only new major studio release to open this weekend, and while many were predicting that the film would come in first place despite low numbers, Inferno is coming in at number 2 right behind Boo! A Madea Halloween.
According to The Hollywood Performer, Inferno earned an estimated $15 million in its domestic release. Early tracking for the film suggested that it would take in $20 million to $30 million at the box office, practically making it a shoe-in for the number one spot of the weekend. However, because of several factors Inferno just couldn't reach those numbers and fell to the Tyler Perry titan, Boo! A Madea Halloween. Now in its second week in theaters, Boo! A Madea Halloween grossed $16.7 million to earn the first place of the holiday weekend, making its total gross roughly $50 million. It just goes to show that having "Halloween" in your title only helps you during Halloween weekend.
It isn't all bad news for Inferno, though. While its release in the U.S didn't exactly live up to expectations, the film is doing much better overseas. The mystery thriller opened in several foreign markets earlier this month and currently stands at an estimated $150 million. While Sony no doubt hoped for a stronger U.S. turnout, the international numbers prove that the film wasn't a total setback.
As to why Inferno did so poorly, there's a number of reasons. First of all, it's been 10 years since The Da Vinci Code and while that movie performed well at the box office, time makes people forgetful. Not everyone is going to be foaming at the mouth to see the continued adventures of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon when there's such a gap between movies in the series. Another major factor was the fact that not only was it a holiday weekend, but Halloween fell on a Monday. Most moviegoers would be out celebrating on Saturday and Sunday, and not in the theaters. Couple that with the historic World Series and the closing days of the media frenzy that is the 2016 Presidential Election and there wasn't a whole lot of incentive to go the cinema.
Inferno isn't the only sequel that audiences are rejecting this weekend. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back was also another of Tyler Perry's victims, failing to open at number one. The Tom Cruise-led action sequel opened last week to $22.8 million -- a number that would decline more than 50% in its sophomore week gross of $9.5 million.
If the real world wasn't so interesting this weekend I'd say go give Inferno a chance, which is out in theaters right now.
