After opening, most nationwide movies drop down the Top 10 week after week. Some titles will occasionally climb up the ranks, but that doesn’t happen very often – especially not with a three-week-old film. Yet such is the case with Ben Affleck’s ‘Argo’. For the first weekend since its Oct. 12th premiere, the movie has claimed the top box office spot with $12.3 million, beating all four new releases and bringing its 17-day total to $60.78 million. The last movie to achieve this feat in its third weekend was 2010’s ‘True Grit‘.

Sadly, ‘Cloud Atlas‘ couldn’t stake the second place position. Like ‘Argo’, five-week-old ‘Hotel Transylvania‘ made its way back up the Top 10. Its $9.5 million weekend beat out the $9.4 million from ‘Cloud Atlas’. Mind you, these are just the weekend estimates, so these two could very well flip positions when the actuals are released this afternoon. I truly hope that’s the case.

While the ‘Cloud Atlas’ $4,681 per-screen average has been deemed a flop, I think that one big factor needs to be taken into consideration. Sure, when you compare it to other Tom Hanks or Wachowski movies, this is a low opening, but its nearly three-hour runtime means that the film only screens four times each day (in comparison to most movies’ five times). 12% of its opening came from IMAX showings (about $1.13 million). When you realize that only 105 of its 2,008 screens were IMAX, that’s a pretty strong debut for the format. After seeing ‘Cloud Atlas’ in IMAX, that’s the only size screen I’d recommend, as the beautiful imagery is done sweet justice on the massive screens.

‘Paranormal Activity 4‘ plummeted 70% for an $8.6 million second weekend. Its $42.6 million 10-day total is actually less than the opening weekend of ‘Paranormal Activity 3’. Yet we’re already doomed to get a fifth one.

Currently tied for the fifth place spot are the four-week-old ‘Taken 2‘ and new release ‘Silent Hill: Revelation‘, both of which grossed $8 million. I have to wonder how much ‘Silent Hill’ would have made without the benefit of 3D ticket prices. Considering that the first ‘Silent Hill’ opened to $20 million, ‘Revelation’ is a major let-down. Again, the actual box office results will prove whether this movie opened in the Top 5 or not.

The next closest of this week’s four new releases was ‘Fun Size‘, which debuted in the #10 spot with an embarrassing $4 million. Playing on more than 3,000 screens, the movie only warranted a pathetic $1,347 per-screen average. Perhaps ‘Chuck’ and ‘Gossip Girl’ producer Josh Schwartz should stick to small-screen entertainment, as it appears that no one wants to pay to see his big-screen efforts.

The worst nationwide release of the weekend couldn’t even crack the Top 10. With only $2.2 million, ‘Chasing Mavericks‘ became the ninth-worst debut on more than 2,000 screens. Its per-screen average was barely above $1,000. Box Office Mojo notes that this is the second bomb for Fox/Walden Media in the last two months, after ‘Won’t Back Down’.

As of now, the weekend estimates for the remake of Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Pusher‘ haven’t been announced.

Top 10:

1. ‘Argo’ (Warner Bros.) – $12,355,000

2. ‘Hotel Transylvania’ (Sony) – $9,500,000

3. ‘Cloud Atlas’ (Warner Bros.) – $9,400,000

4. ‘Paranormal Activity 4’ (Paramount) – $8,675,000

5. ‘Taken 2’ (Fox) – $8,000,000

5. ‘Silent Hill: Revelation’ (Original Film) – $8,000,000

7. ‘Here Comes the Boom’ (Sony) – $5,500,000

8. ‘Sinister’ (Summit) – $5,070,000

9. ‘Alex Cross’ (Summit) – $5,050,000

10. ‘Fun Size’ (Paramount) – $4,060,000