Weekend Box Office Report: September 13-15, 2013

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

September gets scary with Insidious 2!

Nobody was superstitious about Friday the 13th this weekend, judging by the number of people who went out of their way for some supernatural chills, putting INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 at the top with an opening of $41 million!

That's the all-time second-biggest September opening weekend, not far behind last year's HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA with $42.5 million (and without the benefit of that movie's 3D premium ticket price). Critics didn't go crazy for the haunted sequel (36% at Rotten Tomatoes) but audiences sure seemed to be effectively spooked, giving the PG-13 frights a CinemaScore of 'B+'.

With its relatively miniscule $5 million budget, INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2's fearsome opening marks yet another low-cost hit for director James Wan after this summer's THE CONJURING ($259M worldwide on a $20M budget) and the original INSIDIOUS ($97M worldwide for a $1.5M budget) — not to mention kicking off the successful SAW series in 2004 with $103M globally on a $1.2M cost. It should be interesting to see what Wan does with $150+ million when he takes the wheel of the FAST AND THE FURIOUS franchise with part 7 screeching into theaters next summer.

In second place was director Luc Besson's new R-rated comedy THE FAMILY with $14.5 million. Robert De Niro's displaced mobster and his clan got whacked by paying customers, who hit it with a 'C' CinemaScore (critics were equally unkind with 33% on Rotten Tomatoes). Let's hope the same Besson who gave us LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL, THE BIG BLUE and THE FIFTH ELEMENT returns someday, if he finds time and inspiration between making kid-friendly movies and writing/producing moderately entertaining (if forgettable) action flicks.

Skulking around in third was last week's winner RIDDICK, catching another $7 million in its second weekend — a high-gravity drop of 63% from its opening. The Diesel-powered sequel is up to $53 million worldwide (the same total as PITCH BLACK), but only time will tell if it ultimately makes enough to justify a fourth screen adventure of Vin's space badass… or if Riddick's future exploits will be confined to alternate media like comics and videogames.

LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER crossed the $100 million mark in its fifth weekend of release, and there's a good chance we'll see Jason Sukeidis and his faux family again considering the $186.7 million worldwide total for WE'RE THE MILLERS (on a $37M reported cost).

The surprise hit comedy INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED continues to add screens and draw audiences (even as it slips to sixth place after rising to #3 last week), while Disney's PLANES is starting to coast on fumes after six weeks on the chart, although (like the CARS movies that ostensibly launched it) most likely it will make several times its final worldwide tally just in merchandise alone.

Filling out the Top 10 were the boy-band concert documentary ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US, the resilient sci-fi movie ELYSIUM (now up to $232.3 million globally), and PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS. Outside the chart, Woody Allen's BLUE JASMINE just barely missed the list, while it was last call for THE WORLD'S END, and the recently re-released THIS IS THE END and WORLD WAR Z both made it to their domestic monetary milestones ($100M and $200M respectively).

Next weekend offers an intense Hugh Jackman in the thriller PRISONERS as dance crews face off in BATTLE OF THE YEAR, while Ron Howard's racing drama RUSH revs up in limited release.

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