Well kudos to Taken 2, it was speculated in this very spot last week that the poor word of mouth and reviews would put a big dip into the action sequel’s take this weekend. The wrongness is strong with this one.
The Liam Neeson punch-fest held off the critical darling Argo for the top spot yet again in the box office trenches. The film brought in an estimated $22.5 Million over the three-day weekend with a relatively healthy dip of only 54.6%. For an R-rated action film with a built-in audience who presumably all went and saw it the first weekend, that drop is pretty strong.
Argo came up in second, with a still very respectable $20 Million weekend. The Affleck directed ‘incredible true story’ did about as well as a movie of this nature can reasonably expect to do, and with the heaps and heaps of love and positive word of mouth this film is getting it should play well for a few more weeks.
Rounding out the top three was Sinister, the new horror film starring Ethan Hawke. It also had a pretty strong weekend with over $18 Million in revenue. October is the prime month for horror films and with the much more high-profile Paranomal Activity 4 and the next Silent Hill just around the corner Sinster might not have huge legs. However, the film hit pretty strong in its opening weekend and has to be considered a win.
Next weekend sees a brand new side of Tyler Perry, acting, and the aforementioned Paranormal Activity 4. Both films should tussle for the top spot, with the interesting under card of Taken 2 vs Argo‘s next weekend holds.