Box Office Report: Hotel Transylvania checks-in on top; Won’t Back Down can’t get up

Posted by Joe Belcastro On September - 30 - 2012 0 Comment

The box office results for the weekend of September 28th – 30th, has Sony monopolizing the top spots, as the studio wielded two popular genre weapons.

Capitalizing on the upcoming month of Halloween goodness, the 3D animated piece led/voiced by Adam Sandler and friends, gave the lackluster b.o. a much needed boost. Sony was also armed with the critically lauded sci-fi/drama, Looper, which should have a timely run in the top ten. Meanwhile, last week’s holdovers (End of Watch, Trouble with the Curve, House at the End of the Street) avoided steep drop-offs and contributed to the recovering box office. Here are the studio estimates:

1. Hotel Transylvania ($43 million)

2. Looper ($21.2 million)

3. End of Watch ($8 million)

4. Trouble with the Cure ($7.5 million)

5. House at the End of the Street ($7.1 million)

6. Pitch Perfect ($5.2 million)

7. Finding Nemo 3D ($4 million)

8. Resident Evil: Retribution ($3 million)

9. The Master ($2.7 million)

10. Won’t Back Down ($2.7 million)

(Brief) Analysis

Due to yours truly lurking around locations where Iron Man 3 is filming, we only have time for the facts:

Flop Alert: Won’t Back Down. Having a dismal opening, enables that production budget of $19 million become one hell of an eyesore on Twentieth Century Fox’s balance sheet.

Sleeper Hit: Looper. Although one would think a sci-fi product starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis would ring up an expensive production bill, this crafty product spent just $30 million.

After playing musical directing chairs (went through six directors), and spending $85 million to produce this sucker, Hotel Transylvania finally crept its way into theaters. Despite horrendous reviews from both the lovely critics and audiences, this should be able to haunt the top ten all the way up to Halloween.

This Friday, Universal will expand its potential “sleeper hit,” Pitch Perfect, and it will do battle with yet another Halloween themed animation in Frankenweenie. Plus, Liam Neeson returns with the same set of skills in Taken 2. Reviews will be right here my fellow Shockers!