Tops at the Box Office: 'Taken 2' fends off 'Argo'; 'Sinister' scares up solid debut

1. Taken 2- $22.5M/$86.75M
After a powerful opening weekend, Liam Neeson's sequel to his 2008 hit tumbled a hefty 54% but was still strong enough to fend off a slew of tough competitors. While critics mostly savaged the film mercilessly, audiences loved it and talk has already begun of a third film, despite Neeson being vocal about not really wanting to do one. Combined with the foreign grosses, Taken 2 has totaled over $160M and seems well on track to exceed the previous film.

2. Argo- $20.1M
Ben Affleck's Iran hostage thriller opened just a few million dollars short of what The Town did last year, and it'll be interesting to see if Argo gets the same Oscar buzz bounce that it did. Also of note is how well the film will play overseas, as it deals with a major international crisis. Still, a very solid opening that puts Affleck in that top tier of bankable filmmakers.
3. Sinister- $18.25M
Despite a meager 'C+' Cinemascore, audiences packed into theaters for a few scares this week, perhaps due to the oncoming Halloween holiday. The low budget horror only cost around $3M so it's more than made up its production budget, and considering the open-ended premise could be the kick start of a new horror franchise to challenge Paranormal Activity. That Cinemascore is worrying, though, and could mean a massive drop off next weekend. We shall see.
4. Hotel Transylvania- $17.3M/$102.2M
5. Here Comes the Boom- $12M
So here's the contradiction that is Kevin James' latest film which centers on a fat man falling down a lot: audiences LOVED it. An 'A+' Cinemascore means that those who bothered to see it really dug it, and to be fair our review didn't utterly destroy it. On the other hand, not that many were willing to take the risk, and studios may stop chasing James' inexplicable Paul Blart: Mall Cop success. At least I hope they do.
6. Pitch Perfect- $9.3M/$36.1M
7. Frankenweenie- $7M/$22M
8. Looper- $6.3M/$51.4M
9. Seven Psychopaths- $4.3M
Despite critical raves for his directorial debut, In Bruges, Martin McDonagh's film didn't actually do much here in America, with the bulk of its $33M gained on the foreign market. The film was a DVD marvel, however, which led to a great deal of anticipation for his follow-up. Seven Psychopaths was clearly marketed as a more mainstream film, and the results seem to have paid off. Opening in limited release before going national in two weeks, it's already gained more than half of In Bruges' domestic haul and seems poised to be a sleeper hit this season.
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower- $2.16M/$6.1M
Has Summit totally bungled The Perks of Being a Wallflower's release? The film has been out for a month and is only just now breaking 700 theaters. Not sure what the plan is, or why they're being so slow with such a prestige picture, but it seems like they may have missed their window for success.

Well, looks like the free market still doesn't give a crap about Atlas Shrugged. The sequel to last year's dud was hyped largely by the "conservative" libertarian wing who felt the previous film was unjustly ignored. With a new cast in tow, and new producers who delivered on their promise of a much wider theatrical release, Atlas Shrugged part II only pulled in $1.7M. That's only about $100K better than before, and that's with more than 600 additional venues.