411 Box Office Report: Taken 2 Dominates For #1 Spot
Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 10.07.2012
Action sequel opens huge…
Liam Neeson's Taken 2 dominated the box office this weekend. The film opened with a huge $50 million, making it the second-largest opening weekend in October history behind Paranormal Activity 3's $52.6 last year. The film, which doubled the opening weekend gross of the first Taken, averaged $13,657 from 3,661 theaters and added $6.4 million overseas for a $56.4 million worldwide tally. The film's budget was $45 million.
Sony Animation's Hotel Transylvania slipped a spot to #2 in its second week with $26.3 million. The animated film had a 38% second-weekend drop, which is decent for its genre. The film has grossed $76 million domestically and $84.1 million worldwide on a budget of $85 million.
Expanding wide in its second weekend, Pitch Perfect was up three places to #3 with $14.7 million. The Anna Kendrick-led ensemble comedy went to 2,770 theaters and grosses increased almost two-fold as a result. The film has now grossed $21.6 million with a budget of $17 million.
Looper was down two places in its second week to #4. The sci-fi time travel film, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, brought in $12.2 million for a 41% drop, pretty good for a sci-fi film. The movie has now grossed $40.3 million domestically and $55 million worldwide (not including Chinese grosses, from which reports are wildly varying) on a budget of $30 million.
Tim Burton's Frankenweenie disappointed in its opening weekend, finishing #4 with $11.5 million. The film was expected to do in the $15 million to $17 million range. It's the opening weekend for Burton since 2007's Sweeney Todd and well below the $19 million that The Corpse Bride grossed in its 2005 opening weekend. The film had a $3,827 average from 3,005 theaters and had a budget of $39 million.
Slipping three spots to #6 was End of Watch with $4 million. The Jake Gyllenhaal/Michael Pena cop drama has grossed $32.8 million from a $7 million budget.
Also down three places to #7 was Trouble With the Curve. The Clint Eastwood film brought in $3.9 million and has grossed a total of $29.7 million in three weeks from an unknown budget.
House at the End of the Street continued the three-place sliding trend, down to #8 with $3.7 million. The flick has now grossed $27.5 million from a budget of $10 million.
Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master held even at #9 in its fourth week. The film, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, brought in $1.8 million for a three-week cume of $12.3 million. It had a budget of $35 million.
The 3D re-release of Finding Nemo dropped three spots to #10 in its fourth week, bringing in $1.6 million. The film now has a total gross of $378.7 million domestically and $916.8 million worldwide; its original budget was $94 million.
The weekend box office tally was $138.2 million, up a hefty 45% from last year's $95.1 million gross that was topped by Real Steel's $27.3 million opening week.
Note: Numbers include Sunday estimates and are three-day estimates. A studio recoups 55% of a film's grosses on average, meaning it needs to approximately double its budget to be profitable during its theatrical run.
BOX OFFICE TOP TEN
1. Taken 2 - $50 million ($50 million total)
2. Hotel Transylvania - $26.3 million ($76 million total)
3. Pitch Perfect - $14.7 million ($21.6 million total)
4. Looper - $12.2 million ($40.3 million total)
5. Frankenweenie - $11.5 million ($11.5 million total)
6. End of Watch - $4 million ($32.8 million total)
7. Trouble With the Curve - $3.9 million ($29.7 million)
8. House at the End of the Street - $3.7 million ($27.5 million total)
9. The Master - $1.8 million ($12.3 million total)
10. Finding Nemo 3D - $1.6 million ($378.7 million)
