Jigsaw is expected to keep Lionsgate’s box office domination going this weekend with a take in the low $20 million range at 2,800 theaters, while the studio’s cash cow Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween will ease to second with a projected $11M, down 48% from its No. 1 opening.

Lionsgate

Jigsaw is the eighth installment in Lionsgate’s beloved Saw horror series that through seven movies have made close to $1 billion. The first installment was directed and co-storied by James Wan, and in the sequel, there’s a Jigsaw killer who is wrecking havoc again. Is it ghost? Is killer John Kramer back from the dead? Or is it copycat killer? Twisted Pictures is a co-producer . The pic was directed by Michael and Peter Spierig and Wan executive produces.

The weekend that falls or borders near Halloween is typically a downer for all other films, except for horror, which has a history of rallying. In regard to pure horror movies that opened during the final frame of October, Lionsgate’s 2006 Saw 3 is tops with $33.6M. The last Saw movie was seven years ago at this time, Saw 3D, and it opened to $22.5M and legged out to $45.7M, a 2x multiple. Previews for Jigsaw start at 7 PM on Thursday. Jigsaw will also play in Imax. Worst-case scenario for Jigsaw should the marketplace go flat is high teens. Best case scenario: $24M per Deadline sources.

Boo 2! has been leading at the daily box office so far this week, clearing $1M on Monday and $1.5M on Tuesday with a five-day total of $23.85M. It will be interesting to see if the Perry sequel plays beyond the Halloween period. Last year, Boo! A Madea Halloween amazingly made 25% of its $73.2M domestic box office or $18.7M after the holiday was over.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount has the George Clooney-directed crime drama Suburbicon starring Matt Damon as Gardner Lodge, a mild-mannered father and husband in 1959. A home invasion happens and Gardner’s world of manicured lawns and a stellar home is turned upside down. Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac co-star. The movie was co-written by Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Joel and Ethan Coen. The film premiered at the Venice and Toronto film festivals and it’s not expected to do well this weekend with an $8M debut at 2,046 theaters off a 38% Rotten Tomatoes score. Paramount acquired Suburbicon for an estimated $10M. Black Bear financed the movie with Bloom handling foreign sales.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros/Skydance Media/Ratpac’s Geostorm is expected to fall 49% in Weekend 2 with $7M. Through its first five days of release, the disaster movie counts $16.3M stateside.

Universal Pictures

Via Universal, DreamWorks Pictures has American Sniper scribe Jason Hall’s directorial debut Thank You for Your Service in 2,054 locations. Steven Spielberg originally gave the novel about U.S. Iraq war soldiers with PTSD to Hall to adapt. Spielberg was considering directing with Daniel Day-Lewis starring; however, the project turned into a directing opportunity for Hall. Universal supported Thank You for Your Service through multiple activations, including a two-week tour to Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, St. Louis, Denver and Phoenix with screenings and Q&A sessions with talent and filmmakers attended by veterans, active duty military and Veterans service organizations. Nearly 200 screenings were held for members of the military community, and DreamWorks, Universal and AMC have teamed to offer U.S. veterans and active-duty servicemembers free tickets at more than 400 AMC locations nationwide tomorrow. Thank You for Your Service counts 70% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and is expected to make in the low single digits this weekend. Previews begin tomorrow night at 7 PM.

Among specialty fare, Open Road has the Marc Forster-directed drama All I See Is You at 250 locations, Sony Pictures Classics has its Sundance acquisition Novitiate in New York and Los Angeles, and Magnolia will open the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner The Square from director Ruben Ostlund.