LOS ANGELES, Oct 29 — Director Ron Howard’s mystery-thriller Inferno is flaming out in its North America, where it’s on course to gross a paltry US$15 million over Halloween weekend after earning an estimated US$5.5 million yesterday from 3,576 theatres.

Heading into the weekend, it was a given that Inferno — starring Tom Hanks and Felicity Jones — would win the costume contest and top the US chart, but it now could tie for No. 1 with Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween, which could likewise earn US$15 million in its second outing. (Most box-office observers show Inferno slightly ahead, but that could change as Saturday unfolds.)

The saving grace for Sony: Inferno is doing well overseas, where it opened two weeks ago and is projected to finish Sunday with a foreign total of US$150 million. Along with North America, it is launching in China this weekend, where it’s projected to come in No. 1 with a solid US$14 million, as well as Japan.

The third instalment in Sony’s long-dormant Da Vinci Code franchise features Hanks reprising his role as Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbologist immortalised in Dan Brown’s bestselling book series. In a bid to appeal to younger audiences, the studio and Howard cast Felicity Jones opposite Hanks, and booked the film in Imax theatres. But the movie still isn’t displaying firepower, and marks the latest franchise revival to falter. (Dismal reviews surely aren’t helping.)

It’s been a full decade since Howard’s The Da Vinci Code, based on Brown’s blockbuster novel, played on the big screen in 2006. The movie was a box-office sensation, opening to US$77 million domestically on its way to earning US$758.2 million worldwide, including a massive US$540.7 million overseas. Angels & Demons, released in 2009, did notably less business, or US$486 million globally after a US$46 million domestic launch. Like Da Vinci Code, the sequel displayed the most firepower abroad, where it earned US$352.6 million.

Sony knew the threequel was risky, so spent far less this time out. The first two films cost US$150 million to make, while Inferno’s budget is US$75 million net.

Instead of religion, the latest film focuses on the symbology of Dante’s classic about the levels of hell. Langdon and his newfound partner, played by Jones, must stop a sinister billionaire from destroying the world population by unleashing a killer virus.

Heading into the weekend, Inferno was tipped to gross anywhere between US$20 million and US$30 million in its domestic debut. It’s the only new nationwide offering daring to compete with the World Series and holiday parties.

So far, the biggest Halloween-themed title this season is Boo! A Madea Halloween, a comedy-horror parody that debuted to a stellar US$28.5 million last weekend for Lionsgate. The movie grossed US$4.6 million from 2,299 theatres yesterday for an estimated domestic total of roughly US$50 million through Sunday.

Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher: Never Go Back looks to come in No. 3 in its second weekend with roughly US$9 million from 3,780 theatres for a 10-day total of US$39 million-$40 million. Warner Bros. and Ben Affleck’s The Accountant, now in its third outing, should follow with US$8.1 million from 3,402 theatres for a pleasing North American cume of US$61 million through Sunday.

Universal and Blumhouse Productions’ prequel Ouija: Origin of Evil — the only proper Halloween horror offering this year — is expected to round out the top five with an estimated US$6.3 million for an estimated domestic total of US$24 million. Ouija opened last weekend alongside Jack Reacher and Madea. — The Hollywood Reporter/Bloomberg