Box Office: Adam Sandler gets much needed hit after 'Hotel Transylvania's' $11 million Friday

Plus: 'Pitch Perfect' is hitting high notes in just 300 plus theaters

By Gregory Ellwood Saturday, Sep 29, 2012 1:01 PM

Dracula sings a song to Baby Mavis in "Hotel Transylvania."

Credit: Sony Pictures

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After a disastrous 12 months following the dismal failures of "Jack and Jill" and "That's My Boy," Adam Sandler finally has something to smile about at the box office.

Sony Pictures Animation's "Hotel Transylvania" opened with $11 million on Friday for what could be a $32-36 million weekend. "Transylvania" features the voices of Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg and a number of Sandler's buddies including Kevin James, David Spade and Jon Lovitz. If the weekend estimate holds it would actually be the Sony division's biggest opening to date outside of "The Smurfs" which many would qualify as a hybrid animation/live action picture. "Transylvania" won't have the lucrative family audience to itself for very long, however. Tim Burton's stop motion animated "Frankenweenie" opens next Friday.

Another Sony release hit the second spot as "Looper" grossed $6.9 million. The critically acclaimed R-rated thriller could do anywhere from $18-20 million for the three-day frame depending on the Saturday uptick. Sony Pictures and Endgame Entertainment are hoping for strong word of mouth especially after averaging an 84 on Metacritic and a superb 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Three films all followed with a similar Friday take. "Trouble with the Curve" grossed $2.3 million for $18.4 million in just 10 days. "The House at the End of the Street" took in $2.3 million for $17.4 million in the same period. And finally, "End of Watch" made another $2.4 million for $20.5 million also in the same time period.

Universal Pictures released "Pitch Perfect" in just 335 and audiences are singing their song as it made $1.7 million for what should be a $3-4 million three day. "Perfect" expands nationwide on Friday.

20th Century Fox's "Won't Back Down" was nothing but a disaster finding just $921,000 in over 2,500 screens. The teachers vs. the teacher's union drama appears headed for one of the worst openings of the year.

Look for complete weekend estimates tomorrow on HItFix.

Gregory Ellwood
Editor-in-Chief, Co-Founder

With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios and has written for Variety, MSN and the LA Times. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing hitting 3’s on the basketball court and following his beloved Clippers.

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Josh

Is anybody else really bummed that Looper isn't something that everybody is flocking to? In my circle of dork friends we were all so eagerly anticipating it, and to step back and see a middling #2 opening is disheartening.
September 29, 2012 at 2:08PM EST Reply to Comment
- velocityknown It's a pretty high-concept film and it's not surprising it would open at #2 next to a family, especially since it's rated R. I say $20 million for the weekend would be great, especially since it only cost $30 million to make.
  September 29, 2012 at 2:47PM EST
- Oaktown Girl I feel ya, but part of the problem is that this movie is relying solely on the male demographic. Even movies targeted primarily at males need a certain percentage of female ticket buyers to give it strong box office numbers. And frankly, there's no one in this movie thats going to get significant numbers of women to pay theatre prices instead of waitng for the DVD release. There's no male eye candie - Bruce Willis is too old, Joseph Gordon Levitt not a hottie; and there's no strong female character presence (at least as far as the TV commercials show us).
  
  So in this economy (like many people, I'm broke), I see the good reviews, but I'll wait for the DVD. Male eye candy and/or a strong female character COMBINED with the good reviews gets me to the theatre.
  September 29, 2012 at 2:49PM EST
- Josh I guess the R rating is something I overlooked--I was comparing it to Inception in my head, but that was PG-13 and had a broader base.
  
  For what it's worth, Emily Blunt plays what I thought was a very well-written character and the 2 girls I saw it with found the Levitt/Willis chimera strangely attractive.
  September 29, 2012 at 3:10PM EST
- chris Wow. I would never even think to go see a movie based on how attractive the stars were. Is that really how the majority of women decide which movie to see?
  I should also second Josh's opinion that Emily Blunt is fantastic in the movie and her character is very well written, believable strong female.
  September 29, 2012 at 4:34PM EST
- DefRef >"Joseph Gordon Levitt not a hottie"
  
  To you, perhaps, but there are plenty of women who think he's attractive. How shallow are you or do you think movies should be like Magic Mike, which my girlfriend said was boring and didn't have enough Alcide action?
  September 29, 2012 at 5:06PM EST
Oaktown Girl

OK, looks like some of you people need some serious reading comprehension work.
@Chris - What I said was that movies specifically targeted at men (many action movies) need a little something extra to get significant numbers of women to go see them in the theatre. A hot male lead can be one of those things. (You'll remember I ALSO said a strong female character can be one of those things too).
@DERREF - Just...forget it. Yes, that's exactly what my comment said. I think all movies should be like Magic Mike.
September 30, 2012 at 12:18AM EST Reply to Comment

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Box Office: Adam Sandler gets much needed hit after 'Hotel Transylvania's' $11 million Friday

Plus: 'Pitch Perfect' is hitting high notes in just 300 plus theaters

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Box Office: Adam Sandler gets much needed hit after 'Hotel Transylvania's' $11 million Friday

Comments

Josh

Is anybody else really bummed that Looper isn't something that everybody is flocking to? In my circle of dork friends we were all so eagerly anticipating it, and to step back and see a middling #2 opening is disheartening.

velocityknown It's a pretty high-concept film and it's not surprising it would open at #2 next to a family, especially since it's rated R. I say $20 million for the weekend would be great, especially since it only cost $30 million to make.

DefRef >"Joseph Gordon Levitt not a hottie"

To you, perhaps, but there are plenty of women who think he's attractive. How shallow are you or do you think movies should be like Magic Mike, which my girlfriend said was boring and didn't have enough Alcide action?

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Box Office: Adam Sandler gets much needed hit after 'Hotel Transylvania's' $11 million Friday

Plus: 'Pitch Perfect' is hitting high notes in just 300 plus theaters

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Josh Is anybody else really bummed that Looper isn't something that everybody is flocking to? In my circle of dork friends we were all so eagerly anticipating it, and to step back and see a middling #2 opening is disheartening.

velocityknown It's a pretty high-concept film and it's not surprising it would open at #2 next to a family, especially since it's rated R. I say $20 million for the weekend would be great, especially since it only cost $30 million to make.

DefRef >"Joseph Gordon Levitt not a hottie"To you, perhaps, but there are plenty of women who think he's attractive. How shallow are you or do you think movies should be like Magic Mike, which my girlfriend said was boring and didn't have enough Alcide action?

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Josh

Is anybody else really bummed that Looper isn't something that everybody is flocking to? In my circle of dork friends we were all so eagerly anticipating it, and to step back and see a middling #2 opening is disheartening.

DefRef >"Joseph Gordon Levitt not a hottie"

To you, perhaps, but there are plenty of women who think he's attractive. How shallow are you or do you think movies should be like Magic Mike, which my girlfriend said was boring and didn't have enough Alcide action?

Be the first to know - sign up now to get an instant e-mail alert
whenever something big happens in Movies, TV or Music