This Week In Mediocre Headlines: A Haunted House 2 Had Okay Box Office Opening
A Haunted House 2, a film which had one of the fastest turnarounds for a sequel not filmed at the same time as its predecessor, had an okay opening box office weekend. The film made $9.1 million in ticket sales, and had a production budget of just $4 million, which makes it an early success. The film is already $5 million dollars up whilst big budget film Noah remains in the red having made made back only $93 million of its $125 million production budget so far. Black films truly set the bar when it comes to getting the most bang out of small budget films. However, compared to the first film in the series, A Haunted House,  which made double the sum ($18 million) its opening weekend last January, the second film’s numbers are a bit of a disappointment. Sequels these days are expected to do better than predecessors. Whilst any filmmakers would covet the instant success Marlon Wayans’ film had over the weekend, for Wayans the success is also a disappointment. Considering the money he made the week the first film in the series debuted, and the audience he’s reached in the last year with the film being released on DVD and Netflix, there’s a question he needs to explore. Either way, his film will go on to make many more millions above its production budget. But a savvy businessman like Wayans will examine the opening weekend performance thoroughly. What happened to the viewership of the first film? Perhaps Wayans’ eagerness to put out a second film for fans quickly backfired. Maybe more anticipation was needed. Did half of the audience not like the first film? Was it bad timing or marketing? Post your thoughts for why you think the second film had a lower opening box office weekend than the first below.
