Liam Neeson’s ‘Taken’ sequel has successfully beaten five new releases with a $22.5 million second weekend. Ten days into its run, ‘Taken 2’ has grossed $86.7 million. Its 55% drop in attendance was a bit more than expected, but the film is still more than $33 million ahead of where the original ‘Taken’ was at this point.
Ben Affleck’s ‘Argo‘ opened in second place with $20.1 million, which is better than his ‘Gone Baby Gone‘ but not as strong as ‘The Town‘. With stellar reviews, positive word of mouth and Oscar-buzz galore, ‘Argo’ is expected to have long legs leading up to the end of the year.
I’m astonished by the totals for ‘Sinister‘. It appears that the buzz created by positive pre-release reviews fooled general audiences into seeing it. The movie debuted with an impressive $18.2 million. Its per-screen total was actually $1,000 higher than ‘Taken 2’ and ‘Argo’. However, the movie will face strong competition with ‘Paranormal Activity 4’ opening this weekend.
‘Hotel Transylvania‘, the three-week-old animated family flick featuring a voice role by Kevin James, beat out James’ own starring vehicle ‘Here Comes the Boom‘. The latter’s $12 million opening only warranted fifth place. It looks like James should stick to voicing animated movies. ‘Transylvania’ has now grossed $102 million in 17 days.
I didn’t expect it to gross much, but I’m a little bummed out that ‘Seven Psychopaths‘ didn’t open stronger. On 1,480 screens, ‘Psychopaths’ earned $4.2 million, only enough to finish in ninth place. But it wouldn’t be a cult classic if it was a big hit, right?
After a fourth-weekend expansion, ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower‘ climbed into the #10 spot with $2.1 million. That was more than enough to knock this weekend’s fifth new release ‘Atlas Shrugged: Part II‘ out of the Top 10. The ‘Shrugged’ sequel officially bombed by grossing only $1.7 million on 1,012 screens. I can’t say that I didn’t see that one coming.
On just four screens, the highly-buzzed indie drama ‘Smashed‘ earned $30,000, for a decent per-screen average of $7,500.
Top 10:
1. ‘Taken 2’ (Fox) – $22,500,000
2. ‘Argo’ (Warner Bros.) – $20,120,000
3. ‘Sinister’ (Summit) – $18,250,000
4. ‘Hotel Transylvania’ (Sony) – $17,300,000
5. ‘Here Comes the Boom’ (Sony) – $12,000,000
6. ‘Pitch Perfect’ (Universal) – $9,336,000
7. ‘Frankenweenie’ (Buena Vista) – $7,014,000
8. ‘Looper’ (TriStar) – $6,300,000
9. ‘Seven Psychopaths’ (CBS) – $4,275,000
10. ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ (Summit) – $2,166,000
Drew
Luke,
Are you looking at the Bonus view at all? I asked you, a couple of days ago, to tell us about your new 3D equipment, and gave you congrats. Tell us what new screen/TV and player made ‘Prometheus’ such a perfect 3D experience.
I saw ‘Argo’ on Friday night. It’s easily the best film of the year, so far. Yes, it’s better than ‘Looper’, Sci-Fi fanboys. As a matter of fact, the only film left, this year, that I believe has a chance to top it, is ‘Django Unchained’. And I kind of doubt that it will.
Luke Hickman
Sorry for the radio silence. It’s been one of those weekends. Car trouble. Kid trouble. And so on. Forgive me.
Thanks for the compliments on the review. Many of the commenters in the forums dislike the movie, but at least commend me on the review. That’s a nice change.
As for my gear – no, I didn’t get 3D set yet. I wish. But I’m using my buddy’s LG set-up. I’ve asked to have it updated in the gear section, but I’ll post it here for you in the meantime.
For 3D reviews:
TV: LG 65LM6200
Blu-ray/Sound: Samsung HT-D6730W
For 2D reviews:
TV: Samsung LN40C650
Blu-ray: Playstation 3
Sound: Onkyo HT-R680
Drew
You’re welcome! That ‘Prometheus – 3D’ review, was one of the best 20 blu-ray reviews I’ve read, on any site!
I know I’m in the minority, but I couldn’t agree more, with every word you wrote.
I feel like an idiot, prematurely congratulating you on the new equipment. But that’s awesome that your buddy will let you use his for 3D reviews. What a great friend!