Talk about a comeback! With September’s dismal box office numbers, it was looking to be one of the worst box office months in recent history. But thanks to the record-setting debut from Hotel Transylvania and a great first weekend for Looper, September has been saved! The top ten last week only brought a total of $71.9 million to the domestic box office, but this weekend’s powerhouse films brought the total up to an astounding $103 million. Talk about finishing the month with a bang!
1. ‘Hotel Transylvania’
After Adam Sandler‘s Jack and Jill and That’s My Boy tanked at the box office (with $74.2 million and $36.9 million lifetime domestic grosses, respectively), it looked like Sandler’s success was starting to dwindle. Hotel Transylvania‘s debut this weekend seems to prove otherwise. At $42.5 million, the film’s opening was not only the best opening for a September film to date (beating Sweet Home Alabama‘s $35.6 million), but it is also the best debut ever for a Sony Pictures Animation film (taking first place from The Smurfs, also with $35.6 million).
2. ‘Looper’
The $20.8 million dollar opening of the time travel movie, Looper, was a bit surprising. I would not have guessed that it would gross less than half of what Hotel Transylvania did this past weekend. The film came in at number 11 in all time highest openings for a time travel film, beating the $13.8 million debut of Bruce Willis‘s last time travel film, 12 Monkeys (currently in 19th place). It will be interesting to see how the film stands up to others in the genre.
Related: Looper Movie Review
3. ‘End of Watch’
David Ayer’s last cop drama, Street Kings, has a lifetime domestic gross of $26.4 million. Why is this significant? Because with the $7.8 million that End of Watch grossed this past weekend, the film’s 10-day total reached $26 million. It’s safe to say that End of Watch should pass Street Kings in the next couple of days.
4. ‘Trouble with the Curve’
Clint Eastwood’s acting comeback grossed an additional $7.3 million this past weekend. Bringing its total to $23.5 million, Trouble with the Curve now ranks 17th on the list of highest lifetime grosses for a baseball movie. Unfortunately for the film, it’s still unlikely that the film will see the $107.5 million lifetime gross of 1992′s baseball flick, A League of Their Own.
5. ‘House at the End of the Street’
Rounding out this week’s top five is the horror film, House at the End of the Street. The film grossed an additional $7.1 million this past weekend. Although that’s a 42 percent drop from last week, it’s actually pretty good for a horror film. It’s not likely that the film will stay near the top for long; with October here, more and more horror movies will hit theaters.
Next Week’s Releases
Will Taken 2 take the top spot next week? Can Tim Burton‘s Frankenweenie bring the box office back to life? We’ll find out next week!
Box Office Report: September 28th – September 30th
1. Hotel Transylvania – $42.5
2. Looper – $20.8
3. End of Watch – $7.8 million
4. Trouble with the Curve – $7.3 million
5. House at the End of the Street – $7.1 million
6. Pitch Perfect – $5.1 million
7. Finding Nemo 3-D – $4 million
8. Resident Evil: Retribution – $3 million
9. The Master – $2.7 million
10. Won’t Back Down – $2.6 million
