“Inferno” flamed out at the box office this weekend.

Tom Hanks’s latest turn in the Robert Langdon series was beat out by “Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween,” which surprised Hollywood by holding the No. 1 spot, taking in $16.7 million in the U.S. and Canada.

Film Trailer: 'Inferno'

“Inferno” barely made a flicker, with an estimated $15 million opening, which put it in second place, well below expectations for the movie, which arrived with no new competition. Holdover “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” came in third, at $9.6 million.

Like so many movies in today’s Hollywood, “Inferno,” released by Sony Corp.’s SNE, -0.81% Sony Pictures Entertainment, will have to lean hard on overseas returns to make up for lost ground in North America. Its global gross is approaching $150 million. The domestic opening of “Inferno” is well behind its predecessors in the series. “The Da Vinci Code” rode enthusiasm for the best-selling book to a $77 million opening in 2006, and “Angels & Demons” followed in 2009, with a $46 million debut.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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