A January dump that inexplicably made nearly $150 million in the United States, TAKEN was the surprise hit of 2009, it transformed Liam Neeson into an instant action star. Three years later, TAKEN 2 has arrived in theaters with a better release date and advertising campaign that probably cost more than the entire first movie which more than paid off. The first film may have been a sleeper, but the second adventure of Liam Neeson’s kidnap-prone family has opened like a true blockbuster. With more than doubling the first film’s opening, TAKEN 2 opened to number one with $50 million in the bank after its first three days. And unless it sinks like a stone next week, $100 million is a strong possibility, in fact it’s already crossed the $105 million worldwide. With mixed word-of-mouth, it may keep it from the original’s shockingly high final tally, but this is the kind of opening that gets TAKEN 3 green-lighted if all the parties are willing. Neeson may have claimed that a third entry was out of the question but with numbers like this 20th Century Fox will probably let him choose an armored truck full of cash to get him to do another. It’s not every day that a middle-aged actor suddenly finds himself the face of a lucrative action franchise.
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA finished the weekend in second place, falling by an excellent 38 percent to $26.3 million. Sony’s $85 million animated venture has earned $76 million in its first ten days, way ahead of Sony Pictures Animation’s most successful performer, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, which had earned $60.5 million at the same point in its run. With Halloween still three weeks away the Adam Sandler-voiced kiddie flick will continue to hold well at the box office and glide right past the $100 million mark.
In third was Universal’s $17 million a cappella comedy PITCH PERFECT earned a solid $14.7 million after. Thanks to strong pre-release buzz due to Universal opening the film a week early in 335 theaters last weekend the singing competition flick hit a box office high note with $5.1 million. Though its per theater average understandably dropped due to its expansion, PITCH PERFECT is already a big success story. The film was cheap to make and is now well on its way to profitability, while PITCH PERFECT may never earn as much as TAKEN 2 did in its first three days, it will end up being a well-liked success story for Universal.
In the fourth spot, LOOPER also held strong, making another $12 million for a $40 million total. That’s not great, but it’s also not bad, especially for a reasonably inexpensive, independently produced science fiction film that doesn’t talk down to audiences. $70 million will be a victory here.
The other new entry this weekend, FRANKENWEENIE, enjoyed all kinds of praise from critics but failed to electrify audiences, taking in just $11 million for a weak fifth place. Compare that with the last Halloween-esque claymation venture bearing Tim Burton’s name, THE CORPSE BRIDE, which opened wide with $19 million in 2005. Even THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS earned $8 million in 1993 when average ticket prices were almost half what they are today, officially making FRANKENWEENIE the underdog both this weekend and in Burton’s claymation career.
END OF WATCH fell into slot number six with $4 million, bringing its total to $32 million. Right under it, TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE made $3.8 million for a total of $29 million. In the eighth spot, HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET made $3.6 million for a $27 million total. In slot nine, THE MASTER made $1.8 million with $12 million made so far. And finally, FINDING NEMO 3D closed out the top ten with $1.5 million. It should hang around another week or so and cross over $40 million before vanishing until it hits Blu-Ray in December.
In other news, this weekend marked the first time in five months that THE AVENGERS hasn’t been showing on some screen domestically. The movie wrapped up its $623 million run as the unchallenged champion of 2012 and the third highest grossing film of all time, just behind TITANIC‘s $658 million total and distant to AVATAR‘s $760 million record holding total.
The top-12 domestic weekend box office estimates listed in descending order, per data collected as of Sunday, October 7, 2012 are below.
- Taken 2 – 20th Century Fox – $50.0M
- Hotel Transylvania – Sony – $26.3M
- Pitch Perfect – Universal – $14.7M
- Looper – Sony – $12.2M
- Frankenweenie – Disney – $11.5M
- End Of Watch – Open Road – $4.0M
- Trouble with the Curve – Warner Bros. – $3.9M
- House At The End Of The Street – Relativity Media – $3.7M
- Master, The – The Weinstein Company – $1.8M
- Finding Nemo – Disney – $1.6M
- Perks Of Being A Wallflower, The – Lionsgate – $1.5M
- Resident Evil: Retribution – Sony – $1.1M
| Weekend BO Estimate (USD) | Wknd Release Cume (USD) | |||||
| Title | Worldwide | Int’l | Domestic | Worldwide | Int’l | |
| Taken 2 | 105,000,000 | 55,000,000 | 50,000,000 | 117,000,000 | 67,000,000 | |
| Hotel Transylvania | 39,400,000 | 13,100,000 | 26,300,000 | 105,258,532 | 29,300,000 | |
| Madagascar 3 | 23,400,000 | 23,300,000 | 100,000 | 667,232,292 | 451,000,000 | |
| Looper | 19,700,000 | 7,500,000 | 12,200,000 | 66,300,651 | 26,000,000 | |
| Pitch Perfect | 15,216,400 | 480,000 | 14,736,400 | 22,062,608 | 480,000 | |
| Resident Evil: Retribution | 13,450,000 | 12,300,000 | 1,150,000 | 200,700,730 | 159,700,000 | |
| Ted | 12,133,705 | 12,000,000 | 133,705 | 451,231,005 | 232,900,000 | |
| Frankenweenie | 11,500,000 | – | 11,500,000 | 11,500,000 | – | |
| Masquerade | 6,700,000 | 6,700,000 | – | 40,800,000 | 40,800,000 | |
| Ice Age: Continental Drift | 5,700,000 | 5,700,000 | – | 861,773,030 | 702,600,000 | |
| Dukhless | 5,700,000 | 5,700,000 | – | 5,700,000 | 5,700,000 | |
| House At The End Of The Street | 4,198,000 | 500,000 | 3,698,000 | 32,531,144 | 5,000,000 | |
| End Of Watch | 4,000,000 | – | 4,000,000 | 32,845,946 | – | |
| Trouble with the Curve | 3,870,000 | – | 3,870,000 | 29,709,823 | – | |
| Bourne Legacy, The | 3,751,860 | 3,400,000 | 351,860 | 232,082,535 | 119,800,000 | |
© Rentrak