This weekend, three news movies opened at the box office: Tyler Perry’s “Boo! A Madea Halloween,” “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” and “Ouija: Origin of Evil.” While new films in one weekend is usually a little crowded, for whatever reason, these three films managed to actually succeed. Why? Because of a little thing known as counterprogramming. Because all of these films could go for different audiences, they all carve out a little sector of the audience and thrive based on different niches.

While at first glance these films appear extremely different, they actually do have some elements in common. For one, they are all sequels. Who knows how many Madea movies there have been, but this is certainly not the first. This is the second Jack Reacher film — the first was released in 2012 — while the first Ouija movie was released almost two years ago to the day.

While all the films performed respectably, a key component for a film’s success is audience recognition. Because audiences around the country already knew the characters and the brands, there was very little risk when buying their ticket.

Tyler Perry won the weekend with his newest Madea movie, racking up almost $30 million. This was not only enough to be first this weekend, but it was the highest opening for a Madea movie since 2009. This is really due to a fun marketing campaign and title. With the influx of horror movies that come out this time of the year, it’s fun for us as viewers to see something a little different. While these Madea films always open over $20 million, positive word of mouth combined with the clever concept attached made it go over the top.

The success of “Boo” does raise an interesting question: who is a bigger movie star, Tyler Perry or Tom Cruise? Despite opening in over 1,000 more theaters, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” opened decently lower than Madea. While the film had a better opening than its 2012 predecessor, it did not quite reach the heights that many were expecting with an all out blitz of advertising and Tom Cruise star power.

Really, the reason I think it did not succeed is the exactly reason Madea did succeed: an interesting premise. In the advertising for the film, there did not seem to be anything special about it. Yes, it looked good. Yes, it looked fun. But there was nothing uniquely special or interesting. There was no hot take or no twist — just Tom Cruise kicking butt. That’s certainly enjoyable, but we’ve seen it before, and we’ll see it again.

Bringing up the rear was the newest installment of “Ouija” which, interestingly enough, had an amazing critical reception signaling the film was a huge improvement over the original, yet it had a lower opening weekend.

Why would a clearly better film do worse than the original? Even “Jack Reacher” improved. Unlike Madea, who is now a staple of a certain franchise, and “Jack Reacher,” which is really just Tom Cruise doing his Tom Cruise thing, “Ouija” is a concept that many people feel that one was enough installment for. Tom Cruise is a star that gets people to a film and Madea is a character that gets people to a film, but ultimately a second film based on a board game did not excite audiences.

Additionally, in this very strong year for horror, audiences might have just had enough. Tyler Perry has a very loyal audience and action fans always come out, but horror is more fickle. The real test will be to see how the film holds up in the coming weeks.

In 10 years, arguably no one will really remember this weekend, but it serves as a perfect microcosm for the film industry today. Films are not performing at an astonishing level, but they’re doing solid, just with an extreme focus on already-established brands and characters. By targeting different audiences, each film could find a place to succeed.

Erik Benjamin is a junior Television, Radio, and Film Major. He is very nervous about the reception to this article. You can reach him at ebenjami@syr.edu, or @embenjamin14.

Published on October 26, 2016 at 7:15 pm