The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.
Sony Pictures Animation’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 opened at the high end of the studio’s expectations this weekend, taking in an estimated $35 million in its first three days of release. The sequel, featuring the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Terry Crews and Kristen Schaal, marks the fourth-biggest September opener of all time, trailing the company’s own Hotel Transylvania ($42.5 million), Insidious Chapter 2 ($40.3 million) and Sweet Home Alabama ($35.6 million). The film took in $9.3 million on Friday, was up 63% on Saturday with $15.15 million and the studio expects to do about $10.55 million today for a per location average of $8,748 at each of the film’s 4,001 playdates. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, which was made for $78 million, received a strong A- CinemaScore from audiences. The first Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs debuted with $30.3 million in 2009 and went on to earn $245.8 million worldwide.
Warner Bros. Pictures’ Prisoners dropped to second place it second weekend, earning $11.3 million from 3,290 theaters to take its 10-day total to $39 million. Starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Terrance Howard, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo and Paul Dano, the thriller cost $46 million to make.
Universal Pictures expanded Ron Howard’s Formula One drama Rush into 2,297 theaters from a limited release last week. The film, starring Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Brühl, Olivia Wilde and Alexandra Maria Lara, took third place with an estimated $10.3 million and has earned $10.6 million so far. Rush, like “Cloudy,” received an A- CinemaScore.
Fourth place belonged to Fox Searchlight’s Baggage Claim, which debuted with $9.3 million from 2,027 theaters, an average of $4,588 per theater. Also receiving an A- CinemaScore, the romantic comedy stars Paula Patton, Derek Luke, Taye Diggs, Jill Scott, Boris Kodjoe, Tremaine Neverson, Adam Brody, Jenifer Lewis, Ned Beatty, Lauren London, Tia Mowry, La La Anthony, Christina Milian, Affion Crockett, Terrence J, Rickey Smiley, Thomas Miles and Djimon Hounsou.
Rounding out the top five was Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut, Don Jon, in which he co-stars with Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Brie Larson and Glenne Headly. Relativity Media released the film in 2,422 theaters where it earned $9 million, or an average of $3,716. The film, which was made for just $6 million (but also cost Relativity $31 million in acquisition and promotion expenses), received only a C+ CinemaScore from audiences.
FilmDistrict’s Insidious Chapter 2 added $6.75 million its third weekend in theaters. Directed by James Wan from a Leigh Whannell script, the sequel has collected $69.5 million compared to its budget of just $5 million.
Meanwhile, Lionsgate and Pantelion Films announced today that Instructions Not Included grossed an estimated $3.4 million in its fifth weekend, bringing its total to $38.6 million. That makes it the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever at the domestic box office as it passes Pan’s Labyrinth ($37.6 million). The movie also became one of the four highest-grossing foreign-language films ever in the U.S., ranking behind only Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Taiwan), Life is Beautiful (Italy) and Hero (China).
Metallica Through the Never opened on 305 IMAX screens in North America, earning $1.7 million for the weekend, a record opening for a concert film on IMAX screens. The Wizard of Oz also continues to do well with its morning showings and will pass the $5 million mark in the 10 days it’s been on IMAX screens.
Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films.
