By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com

The Weekend Report

Swept Away … Too

If it ain’t broke … don’t … Taken 2 once again outpaced expectations with an estimated $50.2 million to lead weekend film sales. The session’s only other wide debut was the animated Frankenweenie that slotted fifth overall with a disappointing $11.7 million bow.

Following last weekend’s limited opening, Pitch Perfect expanded nationality to good results of $14.7 million that ranked it third in the lineup.

In the niches Bollywood entry English Vinglish was off to a solid start of $590,000 at 88 locations and Winnie, the controversial drama on Winnie Mandela, failed to roil the waters with a 28 screen launch in Canada that netted $34,300. The black comic yarn of suburbia, The Oranges, had limited juice of $184,000 from exposure at 110 sites.

Among the exclusive newcomers, The Paperboy made the loudest noise with box office of $103,000 at 11 theaters. Also encouraging was the single screen bow of the latest revisionist Wuthering Heights with an $8,500 gross and the non-fiction The House I Live In, a searing look at drug war politics, generated $15,600 from three playdates.

Overall weekend revenues climbed up to roughly $145 million and a 20% boost from seven days earlier. It was an impressive 55% improvement from 2011 when incoming entries Real Steel and The Ides of March bowed respectively with $27.3 million and $10.5 million.

The original Taken was unquestionably one of the big box office surprises of 2008 when it bowed to close to $25 million and played and played. The Luc Besson production of terrorist’s kidnapping the wrong victim and feeling the considerable wrath of an ex-CIA operative hasn’t mussed much with the story arc in the sequel. The opening weekend crowd skewed slightly male with a 52% tally and was 56% aged 25-years and older.

The expansion weekend of Pitch Perfect didn’t experience much of a change in its viewership. Women accounted for 81% of the audience that was 55% aged 25-years and junior.

Frankenweenie experienced the negative bias of animation as a family viewing experience and Tim Burton’s well known twisted sensibility. The result was not dissimilar from the initial commercial response to A Nightmare Before Christmas and one can well imagine the film evolving into a profitable perennial.

The box office is proving to be as frantic and erratic as the race for the White House … but at least for the moment it’s on the ascendant. With Thanksgiving weeks away and award season ramping up there’s reason to be optimistic …

Weekend (estimates) October 5 – 7, 2012
Title Distributor Gross (avg) % chng Thtrs Cume
Taken 2 Fox 50.2 (13,720) NEW 3661 50.2
Hotel Transylvania Sony 26.5 (7,910) -38% 3352 76.2
Pitch Perfect Uni 14.7 (5,300) 185% 2770 21.5
Looper Sony/Alliance 12.0 (4,020) -42% 2993 40.1
Frankenweenie BV 11.3 (3,750) NEW 3005 11.3
Trouble with the Curve WB 3.9 (1,290) -47% 3003 29.7
End of Watch Open Road/Alliance 3.9 (1,660) -50% 2370 32.8
House at the End of the Street Relativity 3.7 (1,360) -48% 2720 27.5
The Master Weinstein Co. 1.8 (2,090) -33% 864 12.3
Finding Nemo 3D BV 1.6 (890) -59% 1746 39
The Perks of Being a Wallflower Lions Gate 1.5 (6,740) 35% 221 3.3
Resident Evil: Retribution Sony/Alliance 1.1 (840) -62% 1361 41
Won’t Back Down Fox 1.0 (400) -61% 2517 4.5
The Dark Knight Rises WB .65 (1,130) -18% 575 445.3
Dredd Lions Gate .63 (760) -73% 831 12.7
The Possession Lions Gate .62 (760) -54% 821 48.4
Arbitrage Roadside Attractions .61 (2,490) -30% 245 6
English Vinglish Eros .59 (6,740) NEW 88 0.59
The Bourne Legacy Uni .35 (730) -55% 482 112.3
Ice Age: Continental Shift Fox .32 (1,070) -17% 298 159.9
Lawless Weinstein Co. .30 (490) -65% 611 37
The Odd Life of Timothy Green BV .26 (490) -60% 534 50.2
ParaNorman Focus .24 (700) -69% 342 54.4
OMG Oh My God! Viva .22 (3,580) -35% 62 0.66
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $136.30
% Change (Last Year) 52%
% Change (Last Week) 20%
Also debuting/expanding
The Oranges IDP .18 (1,670) 110 0.18
Sleepwalk with Me IFC .12 (1,230) -19% 100 2.1
Samsara Oscilloscope .11 (2,130) -26% 52 1.6
The Paperboy Millennium .10 (9,400) 11 0.1
Diana Vreeland: The Eyes Have to Travel IDP 81,600 (4,530) -10% 18 0.33
Butter Weinstein Co. 72,500 (810) 90 0.07
Masquerade CJ Entertain. 55,800 (4,650) -20% 12 0.31
V/H/S Magnolia 36,400 (2,430) 15 0.04
Winnie D-Film 34,300 (1,230) 28 0.03
Escape Fire Roadside 22,700 (1,890) 12 0.02
Sister Adopt 15,800 (5,270) 3 0.02
The House I Live In Abramorama 15,600 (7,800) 2 0.02
Just 45 Minutes from Broadway Rainbow 12,100 (2,420) 5 0.01
Decoding Deepak Paladin 8,900 (2,970) 3 0.01
Wuthering Heights Oscilloscope 8,500 (8,500) 1 0.01
#Hold Your Breath Asylum 6,200 (620) 10 0.01
The Revisionaries Lorber 3,100 (3,100) 1 0.01
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Oct. 4, 2012)
Distributor (releases) Gross Market Share
Sony (22) 1313.5 16.10%
Warner Bros. (23) 1270.5 15.50%
Buena Vista (13) 1177.4 14.40%
Universal (14) 1138.2 13.90%
Lions Gate (16) 829.3 10.20%
20th Century Fox (15) 755.2 9.20%
Paramount (15) 594.3 7.30%
Relativity (6) 194.6 2.40%
Weinstein Co. (12) 138.5 1.70%
Focus (7) 130 1.60%
Open Road (5) 111.9 1.40%
Fox Searchlight (8) 106.1 1.30%
CBS (3) 75.1 0.90%
Summit (4) 47.1 0.60%
Sony Classics (18) 44.6 0.60%
Other * (280) 236.3 2.90%
8162.6 100.00%
* none greater than 0.4%
Top Domestic Grossers (Jan. 1 – Oct. 4, 2012)
Title Distributor Box Office
The Avengers BV 623,357,910
The Dark Knight Rises WB 444,695,205
The Hunger Games Lions Gate 408,043,896
The Amazing Spider-Man Sony 261,813,176
Brave BV 233,768,624
Ted Uni 218,197,300
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted Par 216,132,292
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Uni 214,571,106
Men in Black III Sony 179,199,159
Ice Age: Continental Drift Fox 159,173,030
Snow White and the Huntsman Uni 155,326,249
21 Jump Street Sony 138,591,227
Prometheus Fox 126,477,084
Safe House Uni 126,367,263
The Vow Sony 125,074,813
Magic Mike WB 113,741,031
The Bourne Legacy Uni 111,930,675
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island WB 103,969,647
Think Like a Man Sony 91,823,043
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Par 87,174,082
* does not include 2011 box office
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Leonard Klady's Friday Estimates
Friday Screens % Chg Cume
Title Gross Thtr % Chgn Cume
Venom 33 4250 NEW 33
A Star is Born 15.7 3686 NEW 15.7
Smallfoot 3.5 4131 -46% 31.3
Night School 3.5 3019 -63% 37.9
The House Wirh a Clock in its Walls 1.8 3463 -43% 49.5
A Simple Favor 1 2408 -50% 46.6
The Nun 0.75 2264 -52% 111.5
Hell Fest 0.6 2297 -70% 7.4
Crazy Rich Asians 0.6 1466 -51% 167.6
The Predator 0.25 1643 -77% 49.3
Also Debuting
The Hate U Give 0.17 36
Shine 85,600 609
Exes Baggage 75,900 62
NOTA 71,300 138
96 61,600 62
Andhadhun 55,000 54
Afsar 45,400 33
Project Gutenberg 36,000 17
Love Yatri 22,300 41
Hello, Mrs. Money 22,200 37
Studio 54 5,300 1
Loving Pablo 4,200 15
3-Day Estimates Weekend % Chg Cume
No Good Dead 24.4 (11,230) NEW 24.4
Dolphin Tale 2 16.6 (4,540) NEW 16.6
Guardians of the Galaxy 7.9 (2,550) -23% 305.8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4.8 (1,630) -26% 181.1
The Drop 4.4 (5,480) NEW 4.4
Let's Be Cops 4.3 (1,570) -22% 73
If I Stay 4.0 (1,320) -28% 44.9
The November Man 2.8 (1,030) -36% 22.5
The Giver 2.5 (1,120) -26% 41.2
The Hundred-Foot Journey 2.5 (1,270) -21% 49.4