As expected the animated comedy Hotel Transylvania 2 opened up in first place over the past weekend. In its first weekend of release the family film made an estimated $48.4 million dollars. This has to be a bit of a relief for Adam Sandler who has produced a string of unsuccessful live-action films, culminating in last summer’s Pixels.
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The Intern had a surprisingly strong debut with an estimated $17.7 million dollars. The new comedy-drama stars Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises) and Robert Deniro as an aging intern who shows the younger generation how it’s done. The movie outpaced other action features that were projected to best the heartwarmer. This is also a testament to Deniro and Hathaway’s staying power at the box-office.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials fell to third place in its second week of release. Much of the drop can be attributed to an eager fan base, who read the original novels rushing out to see the movie opening weekend, however it has to sting to get pushed out of the way by The Intern in any case. The Scorch Trials collected an estimated $14.2 million dollars. Pre-production is in full swing for the third installment of the franchise, which will bring back director Wes Ball.
The other pleasant surprise of weekend was Everest, which opened up to a wider audience, from its previously limited IMAX release. The story about a tragic mountain climbing expedition expanded to an additional 2,4oo theaters and made an estimated $13.2 million dollars. The movie will be getting pushed off of IMAX screens with the pending release of The Walk however, so take the opportunity to check it out before its gone.
Black Mass dropped to fifth place in its second week, while losing a little more than 50% of the previous week’s audience. The Johnny Depp led vehicle made another estimated $11 million dollars over the past weekend which is an acceptable second week’s take. It will be worth watching whether or not audience’s palette has been cleansed enough by Depp’s portrayal of Whitey Bulger, to accept him back in the familiar roles of the Mad Hatter and Captain Jack Sparrow, that he will soon be reprising in sequels to Alice in Wonderland and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Here is the complete box-office breakdown for the weekend of 9/25-9/27:
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count /Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | N | Hotel Transylvania 2 | Sony | $48,464,322 | – | 3,754 | – | $12,910 | $48,464,322 | – | 1 |
| 2 | N | The Intern | WB | $17,728,313 | – | 3,305 | – | $5,364 | $17,728,313 | – | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | Fox | $14,271,777 | -52.9% | 3,792 | +1 | $3,764 | $51,957,349 | $61 | 2 |
| 4 | 5 | Everest (2015) | Uni. | $13,242,895 | +83.4% | 3,006 | +2,461 | $4,405 | $23,282,700 | $55 | 2 |
| 5 | 2 | Black Mass | WB | $11,031,215 | -51.3% | 3,188 | – | $3,460 | $42,129,394 | $53 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 | The Visit | Uni. | $6,674,280 | -42.3% | 2,967 | -181 | $2,250 | $52,184,860 | $5 | 3 |
| 7 | 4 | The Perfect Guy | SGem | $4,774,505 | -51.0% | 1,889 | -341 | $2,528 | $48,895,640 | $12 | 3 |
| 8 | 6 | War Room | TriS | $4,242,644 | -31.7% | 1,920 | -25 | $2,210 | $55,967,325 | $3 | 5 |
| 9 | N | The Green Inferno | HTR | $3,520,626 | – | 1,540 | – | $2,286 | $3,520,626 | – | 1 |
| 10 | – | Sicario | LGF | $1,717,301 | +327.9% | 59 | +53 | $29,107 | $2,297,895 | $30 | 2 |
What did you catch over the weekend? Was it any good? Let us know on the comment boards, , , and !
Source: Box Office Mojo