Weekend Box Office: October 5-7

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Taken 2 - $50 million

2.  Hotel Transylvania - $26.3 million

3.  Pitch Perfect - $14.7 million

4.  Looper - $12.2 million

5.  Frankenweenie - $11.5 million

6.  End of Watch - $4 million

7.  Trouble With the Curve - $3.8 million

8.  House at the End of the Street - $3.6 million

9.  The Master - $1.8 million

10.  Finding Nemo 3D - $1.5 million

Liam Neeson, as we know, has a special set of skills, which this weekend included making an utterly unnecessary sequel a great big hit.  Taken 2 earned an estimated $50 million in theaters this weekend, about twice what the original Taken film earned on its opening weekend in 2009.  Overseas, the sequel earned an additional $67 million.  With a reported budget around of around $45 million, it's a good bet that this family will be taking another unfortunate vacation in the future.

The Halloween kid-movie faceoff was virtually no contest, as Hotel Transylvania easily dominated with $26.3 million, dropping only 38% from its first-place opening last weekend.  Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, on the other hand, disappointed with $11.5 million, with families opting for the animated comedy over the black-and-white stop motion.  Could also be some creepy-themed kid movie oversaturation, what with these two movies and ParaNorman all in theaters over the last few weeks.

It was better news for Pitch Perfect, which rode excellent word-of-mouth from it's limited release last weekend to open wide with an excellent $14.7 million.  Looper also held on well from its second weekend, dropping only 41% to earn $12.2 million.  Still in limited release, The Perks of Being a Wallflower continues to perform strongly, earning $1.5 million from just 221 theaters.

Next weekend brings the latest Kevin James comedy, Here Comes the Boom, as well as the horror film Sinister (which is actually getting some decent reviews) and Ben Affleck's hostage drama Argo.