Such a lovely place.
Here’s how it looks:
1. Hotel Transylvania 3D (Sony) NEW [3,349 Runs] PG
Friday $11M, Saturday $19M, Weekend $39.5M
2. Looper (Sony) NEW [2,992 Runs] R
Friday $6.8M, Saturday $8.8M, Weekend $21.5M
3. End Of Watch (Open Road) Week 2 [3,083 Runs] R
Friday $2.3M, Saturday $3.2M, Weekend $7.7M (-41%), Cume $25.8M
4. Trouble With The Curve (Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,212 Runs] PG13
Friday $2.3M, Saturday $3.4M, Weekend $7.4M (-39%), Cume $23.6M
5. House At End Of Street (Relativity) Week 2 [3,083 Runs] PG13
Friday $2.3M, Saturday $3.3M, Weekend $7.1M (-42%), Cume $22.2M
[Numbers courtesy of Deadline]
Hollywood breathes a collective sigh of relief as news from the box office rolls in this weekend. Finally, we have some genuine hits.
“Hotel Transylvania” had a smashing debut, earning almost $40 million. That makes it the official holder of the record for best September opening, taking over that spot from “Sweet Home Alabama.” It’s also the highest grossing opening for a movie from Sony Animation movie. It got an A- Cinemascore, and with little other choices available for kids, look for it to continue to do well over the next few weeks as the Halloween season gets into full swing.
Speaking of Sony, they’re also the happy studio behind “Looper,” which also had a very solid opening; it’s rare for a studio to have two such big openings on the same day. It’s also doing well in China–so well that the opening in China may outpace the US opening, which would be a first.
The weekend’s other big opener, the dreary looking “Won’t Back Down,” bombed with $2.6 million. Well, we can’t all be winners.
We need to take special note of a movie that’s just outside our top 5–”Pitch Perfect” opened in limited release, in just 335 locations, and earned a fantastic $5.1 million, good enough for sixth place. That’s a $15,223 per screen average, the best of the weekend. It goes wide next weekend, and looks like an early contender for the number one slot.
Speaking of next week–is there anything that can outrun the good word for “Hotel Transylvania,” “Looper,” and “Pitch Perfect?” Oh, well, it looks like this is going to be quite a competition–we have another kid-oriented movie, “Frankenweenie,” and “Taken 2.” I don’t think “Frankenweenie” will have the wide appeal of the brighter “Hotel Transylvania,” but it should make a dent. “Taken 2″ provides an alternative both for those who already saw “Looper” and those who like action but have little patience with sci-fi. Plus you should never underestimate Liam Neeson, or he might kill you. It will be an interesting weekend.
