Lionsgate’s Jigsaw came in just a bit behind expectations, which some may attribute to the Netflix debut of the second season of Stranger Things on Friday or the seven year gap between films, but that isn’t to say this is a poor debut. Elsewhere, however, Paramount’s Suburbicon flopped while Universal’s release of Thank You for Your Service didn’t perform much better over the course of one of the worst weekends of the year so far, with the top twelve currently sitting below a combined $60 million, $18 million behind the same weekend last year.
With an estimated $16.25 million, Lionsgate’s Jigsaw brought the Saw franchise back to the big screen after a seven year hiatus and delivered the seventh best opening of the franchise’s eight films. Only 2009’s Saw VI debuted lower, but that isn’t to say this is a terrible opening. Given the film’s reasonable, $10 million budget, this opening just shows this franchise isn’t delivering the same kind of numbers it did in the early aughts.
The first Saw not only introduced the world to James Wan, but debuted with $18.2 million domestically and delivered over $103 million worldwide, leading to a franchise that will top $900 million globally by tomorrow.
Jigsaw’s staying power within the current marketplace (not to mention just how much of an effect “Stranger Things” had on its opening) will be tested next weekend as it would be relatively safe to expect a 60%+ drop next weekend and perhaps a less than 2x multiplier for the film’s domestic run. Opening day audiences gave the film a “B” CinemaScore, which is mostly on par for the franchise, and of that audience 51% were female and 52% were under the age of 25.
Internationally, Jigsaw opened in 46 markets with an estimated $9.5 million. Of those 46, only three were major markets with the UK leading the way with an estimated $2.3 million for a second place finish along with a $1.7 million debut in Russia and $1.4 million opening in Germany. The film will debut in Italy, France, Belgium, Australia and South Korea this coming week.
Lionsgate also finished in second position with Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween brought in an estimated $10 million, pushing the film’s domestic cume over $35 million after ten days in release. While that matches Mojo’s forecast, it puts the sequel’s performance well behind the first film, which had already grossed $52.5 million after ten days, see the full, head-to-head comparison here.
