There hasn’t been a proper family film in theaters since Minions opened in July, so it’s not surprising at all that Hotel Transylvania 2 cleaned up at the box office this weekend. Still, we didn’t imagine it cleaning up this well. This is the kind of opening weekend that guarantees us a Hotel Transylvania 3, for better or worse.

FilmWeekendPer Screen
1Hotel Transylvania 2$48,000,000$12,786$48,000,000
2The Intern$17,000,000$5,144$17,000,000
3Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials$13,800,000 (-54%)$3,639$51,485,000
4Everest$12,100,000 (+68%)$4,025$22,139,000
5Black Mass$11,000,000 (-51%)
$3,450$42,098,000
6The Visit$6,500,000 (-44%)$2,191$52,010,000
7The Perfect Guy$4,600,000 (-53%)$2,435$48,721,000
8War Room$4,200,000 (-32%)$2,188$55,924,000
9The Green Inferno$3,500,000$2,273$3,500,000
10Sicario$1,700,000 (+324%)$28,814$2,280,000

 

With an estimated opening haul of $48 million, the animated, season-friendly sequel bested the opening weekend of its predecessor by $6 million. It’s also a career-high for star Adam Sandler, giving him some much needed comfort after Pixels bombed earlier this year. Although it won’t do Inside Out or Minions numbers, the film should easily top the first film’s $148 million gross, especially as it continues to play well for families up through Halloween.

The Intern, the other new wide release of the weekend, opened with a decent $17 million. That’s kind-of-okay for a new film from Nancy Meyers, whose movies tend to develop strong legs with older audiences who don’t flock out on opening weekend. Audiences could abandon this one, but this could also turn into a sleeper hit that plays up through November. Keep an eye on this one, just in case.

Elsewhere, the long-delayed The Green Inferno finally arrived in theaters, grossing $3 million in ninth place. That’s not great, but considering the toxic cloud that’s been hovering over this thing for the past two years, it‘s about what everyone expected. The fact that it got a theatrical release at all is a minor miracle.

Meanwhile, in 10th place, Sicario continued to kill in limited release, grossing $1.7 million from less than 100 locations, averaging $28,000 per screen. The big question now is whether or not audiences will remain interested as it spreads into more theaters in the coming weeks.

Back at the top of the chart, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials took a 54 percent tumble, grossing $13 million for a $51 million total. That’s not a great second weekend and it looks like the film will have to struggle to reach the heights of the first movie (at least at the domestic box office). Black Mass also took a bit of a dive, making $11 million for a $42 million total so far. Only Everest, which expanded from its limited IMAX release, managed to hold an audience, adding $12 million to its total gross, bringing it to $22 million.

In the back half of the top 10, The Visit, The Perfect Guy and War Room all continued to do comparable numbers, racing toward $60 million. They’ll all get there for sure, but each are showcasing legs that may be strong enough to take them to $75 million or more. For a trio of movies with niche appeal and modest budgets, this is a very strong showing.

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