Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Taken 2′ Keeps the Box Office in a Chokehold

‘Taken 2‘ may have held onto the top spot at the box office, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t other winners this weekend. Actually, most of the new releases opened well and the overall top ten is significantly stronger than it was last week. With a few exceptions, it was a good showing for all involved.

‘Taken 2′ may have taken a large drop off from last weekend (54% is higher than your average drop for sure), but $22.5 million was enough to hold onto the number one spot. With over $86 million in the bank, ‘Taken 2′ is surely going to cross $100 million sometime next week, but that large drop-off suggests that hitting the original’s $150 million-ish gross will be difficult. But with numbers like this, you can bet your life savings that ‘Taken 3′ is going to happen.

Of the new releases, Ben Affleck’s critical darling (and current Best Picture frontrunner) ‘Argo‘ opened to $20 million, an incredibly solid number for a movie made solely for adults with good taste. This will be the third R-rated, mid-budgeted film that Affleck has shepherded to success after ‘Gone Baby Gone’ and ‘The Town,’ which makes him a rare breed in modern Hollywood. With a rare A+ Cinemascore, word of mouth alone may push this thing to $100 million. This is one to keep your eyes on.

The third spot belonged to the first horror movie attempting to cash in on the Halloween season. ‘Sinister‘ opened strong with $18 million, which is a terrific opening salvo for a modestly budgeted horror movie (it actually has the highest the highest per-screen average of anything in the top ten, so take that as you will). With Halloween fast approaching, ‘Sinister’ may grow strong legs as audiences search for a scary movie that doesn’t have “Activity” and “Paranormal” in the title. Not to mention the fact that ‘Sinister’ is not only really good, it’s genuinely terrifying.

In fifth place, ‘Here Comes the Boom‘ opened with only $12 million, which is about how much a Kevin James comedy should open to. Is America learning its lesson that we should disavow anyone involved in ‘Grown Ups’? Can we be so lucky?

The final new release in the top ten is Martin McDonagh’s ‘Seven Psychopaths,’ which opened in the ninth spot with only $4 million. It’s not a surprising opening (it’s not like ‘In Bruges’ lit the box office on fire), but with its wide release and a ton of recognizable names on the poster, you’d expect it little more than that.

And now the rest!

‘Hotel Transylvania‘ held strong, taking in another $17 million and crossing $100 million, making it the first true blockbuster of the fall season. Since its seeing only minor drops from week to week, it has the potential to play well into November. It looks like there was only room for one family-friendly horror-themed animated movie this month. Sorry, ‘Frankenweenie‘ (seventh place, $7 million, $22 million total).

Elsewhere, ‘Pitch Perfect‘ continued its march toward “sleeper hit” with another $9 million, putting its total gross at $36 million. ‘Looper‘ is starting to slow down with $51 million grossed, but it could stretch reach $70 million if the winds are in its favor.  In the tenth spot, ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ rode its theater expansion to $2 million. Not great, but also not bad. At least it can say it was in the top ten.

Next week, ‘Alex Cross’ and ‘Paranormal Activity’ open. Expect the latter to take the weekend.

Source: Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Taken 2′ Keeps the Box Office in a Chokehold