Weekend Box Office: September 20-22

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Prisoners - $21.4 million

2.  Insidious Chapter 2 - $14.5 million

3.  The Family - $7 million

4.  Instructions Not Included - $5.7 million

5.  Battle of the Year - $5 million

6.  We're The Millers - $4.6 million

7.  Lee Daniels' The Butler - $4.3 million

8.  Riddick - $3.6 million

9.  The Wizard of Oz (3D/IMAX) - $3 million

10.  Planes - $2.8 million

Audiences chose to be terrified this weekend, as the kidnap drama Prisoners easily won the weekend with an estimated $21.4 million.  That's an impressive start, especially for an R-rated film that clocks in at a relentless 2-1/2 hours.  It's also a great opening for Hugh Jackman in a non-Wolverine starring role (I suspect there will be more and more of these to come), and Jake Gyllenhaal, whose awesomeness sadly doesn't always translate to great box office. 

In second place was Insidious Chapter 2, which held on well for a second weekend, and earned $14.5 million.  The sequel has earned $60 million domestically, which outgrosses the original Insidious film - and keep in mind, it only had a reported budget of $5 million.  So expect plenty of sequels from here on out.

The Family, which didn't particularly impress last weekend, didn't do much differently this weekend, earning another $7 million.  The news was better for the Spanish-language hit Instructions Not Included which added another 45 theaters and earned an impressive $5.7 million. 

Any hopes that Battle of the Year would be the next Step-Up series were squashed this weekend, as that tanked this weekend with $5 million.  And am I the only Lost fan who's sad that this is the only movie we've seen Josh Holloway star in?  C'mon, Hollywood...Sawyer deserves better. 

Someone may have dropped a house on the IMAX screens this weekend, as the IMAX/3D re-release of The Wizard of Oz mustered only $3 million. 

In limited release, Enough Said, which features James Gandolfini in one of his final roles, did extremely well, earning $240,000 at just four theaters nationwide.  Ron Howard's Rush earned $200,000 in only five theaters, and opens wide next weekend.

Joining Rush next weekend will be the animated sequel Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, and the romantic comedy Don Jon.