Box Office Recap: October 26

Argo was finally able to ascend to the top of the weekend box office after its third weekend of release. The film has become a bonafide hit, and should continue to do well in the upcoming weeks solidifying itself as an Oscar front-runner. As for the four films that were released this weekend, none performed well.

The film with the most potential, and the one ending up being the biggest disappointment was Cloud Atlas. The epic science fiction film from the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer, and based on the novel from David Mitchell, cost a reported $100 million to make. Earning a Cinemascore of C+ means that word of mouth on the film isn't going to be all that great, making this look more like it’s going to be a box office bomb. It also provides further evidence that Tom Hanks’ name no longer carries enough weight to carry a film, with Cloud Atlas being his third disappointing film in a row. A drop of %50+ next weekend would be devastating.

Silent Hill: Revelation was the 2nd disappointment of the weekend, although with a budget of $20 million it has a better chance of recovering the cost to make the film. The film earned a C Cinemascore, likely meaning that we've seen the end of series and deservedly so. A ‘franchise’ that has a successful first film only to wait 6 years to release the 2nd, doesn't deserve to become a Halloween franchise the likes of Saw and Paranormal Activity.

The Nickelodeon produced Fun Size received a decent enough B Cinemascore, but seemed to suffer from better Halloween family film options available. Fun Size did earn a B Cinemascore, but with Halloween this week and Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph coming out next weekend, there’s little chance this brings it much more at the box office.

The fourth and final new release and the film which earned the high Cinemascore for the weekend with a B+ was Chasing Mavericks. The inspirational film finished outside the top 10 for the weekend and has very little chance of earning back its $20 million budget. I’m sure the studio is hoping the film has a good life once it’s released on video, as most inspiring films tend to do.

Here’s the entire Top 10 for the weekend:

RANK	TITLE	WEEKEND TOTAL	JOE'S PREDICTION	DOMESTIC TOTAL	WORLDWIDE TOTAL
1	Argo	$12,355,000 (Estimated) -24,9%	$12,700,000	$60,780,000 (Estimated)	$67,480,000 (Estimated)
2	Hotel Transylvania	$9,500,000 (Estimated) -26.9%	$9,400,000	$130,434,000 (Estimated)	$221,734,000 (Estimated)
3	Cloud Atlas	$9,400,000 (Estimated)	$17,000,000	$9,400,000 (Estimated)	$9,400,000 (Estimated)
4	Paranormal Activity 4	$8,675,000 (Estimated) -70.1%	$11,000,000	$42,632,000 (Estimated)	$90,932,000 (Estimated)
5	Taken 2	$8,000,000 (Estimated) -39,7%	$7,300,000	$117,389,000 (Estimated)	$315,289,000 (Estimated)
6	Silent Hill: Revelation	$8,000,000 (Estimated)	$11,000,000	$8,000,000 (Estimated)	$8,000,000 (Estimated)
7	Here Comes the Boom	$5,500,000 (Estimated) -34.6%	$5,500,000	$30,610,000 (Estimated)	$30,610,000 (Estimated)
8	Sinister	$5,070,000 (Estimated) -42.5%	$5,500,000	$39,515,000 (Estimated)	$39,515,000 (Estimated)
9	Alex Cross	$5,050,000 (Estimated) -55.7%	$5,100,000	$19,369,000 (Estimated)	$19,369,000 (Estimated)
10	Fun Size	$4,060,000 (Estimated)	$11,000,000	$4,060,000 (Estimated)	$4,060,000 (Estimated)
ADDITIONAL NEW RELEASES
	Chasing Mavericks	$2,200,000 (Estimated)	$4,000,000	$2,200,000 (Estimated)	$2,200,000 (Estimated)