Successfully taking in family audiences, Hotel Transylvania not only blew past expectations, but it broke records as well. The animated monster mash scared up a strong $42.5 million this weekend, for a per-theater average of an impressive $12,697 from around 6,300 screens at 3,349 theaters. It broke the record for the largest September opening ever, passing Sweet Home Alabama's $36 million debut. It also posted the largest debut yet for Sony Pictures Animation, passing the openings of The Smurfs ($35.6 million) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ($30.3 million). In terms of animation this year, however, Transylvania couldn't hold a candle to The Lorax ($70.2 million), Brave ($66.3 million) or Madagascar 3 ($60.3 million), but it did come close to matching Ice Age 4's $46.6 million opening weekend back in July. In terms of all films, Transylvania had the largest opening weekend since The Dark Knight Rises. Originally not expected to open high due to recent releases (such as Finding Nemo's 3D re-release and ParaNorman) not attracting a huge audience, Transylvania brought in larger crowds due to its' intriguing premise, extensive promotional campaign, and more recognizable cast (Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, and others). Critics gave it mixed to negative reviews, but audiences clearly enjoyed it, giving the movie an "A-" CinemaScore, which should bode well for it down the road. Frankenweenie will be an obstacle next weekend, but Transylvania's positive word-of-mouth should guarantee playability until Halloween. The film was produced for $85 milliion by distributor Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation, and they were expecting a debut near $30 million.
Also opening strong was sci-fi action thriller Looper, which tallied $20.8 million, for a per-theater average of a commendable $6,952 from around 3,900 screens at 2,992 theaters. The TriStar Pictures release came in at the high end of expectations, and was a much better opening for star Joseph Gordon-Levitt than last month's Premium Rush. The film was critically-acclaimed (93% on Rotten Tomatoes) and generated a lot of buzz from the Toronto International Film Festival. The film will have to compete against Taken 2 next weekend, which is expected to open with sizable numbers. Plus the sci-fi genre is typically front-loaded, and with a "B" CinemaScore, its' yet-to-be determined if this will follow a similar trajectory. But on a small budget ($30 million), it should still make a nice profit for Sony. Co-produced in China, Looper had an outstanding $24 million debut in that country alone this weekend, marking the first time ever a movie opened larger in another country than in the U.S. Distributor TriStar Pictures (or Sony) were projecting a high-teens millions opening.
After topping last weekend, crime drama End of Watch had a solid hold despite competition from Looper, down 41% to $7.8 million, finishing in the bronze position and has picked up a solid $26 million in 10 days. Not far behind, Trouble with the Curve eased just one spot to fourth place, and was down 40% to $7.3 million, for a 10-day tally of a not bad $23.5 million. Falling behind its' second weekend competitors, House at the End of the Street was down 42%, a strong hold for a horror film, to $7.1 million, for a 10-day tally of a slightly less $22.2 million, but still a solid tally against just a $10 million budget.
Despite opening in just 335 theaters, Pitch Perfect hit a high note this weekend. The buzzed-about musical comedy tallied a strong $5.1 million, for a per-theater average of a Top 10-best and huge $15,5371. The film will expand to over 2,800 theaters next weekend, with prospects currently looking good. With Hotel Transylvania catering to the family audience, Finding Nemo's 3D re-release suffered the consequences, dropping 58% to $4 million, for a good (but not great) $36.4 million in 17 days. Looks like this re-release will probably finish in line with Star Wars: Episode I's $42 million re-release total. Resident Evil: Retribution continued to plunge, down 55% to $3 million, for a 17-day tally of $38.7 million, with not much farther to go. The Master expanded into 856 theaters, but saw its' gross tumble 39% to $2.7 million, for a $9.6 million gross since its' limited debut three weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the other new wide release flunked out. Inspirational drama Won't Back Down was unable to take in an audience and rounded out the Top 10, earning just $2.6 million, for a per-theater average of a pitiful $1,035 from 2,515 theaters (the worst opening yet for a film released in 2,500+ theaters). Despite having good starpower with Maggie Gyllenhaal and the Oscar-winning Viola Davis and Holly Hunter, distributor 20th Century Fox seemed to already know it wasn't going to do well, as they didn't give it a real promotional push. Critical reception was negative, while the small audience it had did like it, giving it an "A-" CinemaScore. Fox was only expecting between $4 and $5 million for its' debut, and it was reported to be produced for $19 million.
Overseas, with a strong $24 million overseas, Looper took the top spot with a strong $36 million. Resident Evil: Retribution came in second place with another $20.7 million from 65 markets, bringing its' overseas tally to near $140 million. Ted took the third spot with another $9.1 million from 44 territories, for a huge $430 million worldwide tally with still nine markets left to open. Winding up a blockbuster run overseas, Ice Age: Continental Drift opened huge in Italy, and took fourth place internationally with $8.7 million from just four territories. Over the weekend, the movie passed its' predecessor, Dawn of the Dinosaurs to become the biggest-grossing animated film of all time overseas, at close to $695 million (and over $850 million worldwide). Rounding out the Top 5 was Hotel Transylvania, which managed to pull in $8.1 million from 13 territories.
