The Martian sits at #1!
Getting stranded on the red planet wasn't much a setback for Matt Damon this weekend as THE MARTIAN landed on top with an estimated $55 million!
The Mars thriller was just short of having the biggest October opening, coming in behind the record-setting $55.8 million launch of GRAVITY in 2013. But it rocketed past the first weekend of Damon's last trip into space (INTERSTELLAR took off with $47.5 million last November).
THE MARTIAN is also Damon's second-best opening behind THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM ($69.2 million), and also the second-highest for director Ridley Scott after HANNIBAL's $58 million debut back in 2001. When the filmmaker previously went into space for his ALIEN pseudo-prequel PROMETHEUS, it scored $51 million when it opened in June 2012.
The PG-13 adaptation of Andy Weir's bestselling novel also brought in $45 million internationally for a $100 million global opening weekend (THE MARTIAN cost a reported $108 million). Critics appreciated the survival story with a 94% average on Rotten Tomatoes, and moviegoers gave it a straight 'A' CinemaScore.
Last weekend's winner HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 was in second with $33 million. Adam Sandler's animated monster movie only dropped 32% from its opening and has a 10-day total of $90.5 million.
In third place was the R-rated cartel thriller SICARIO with $12 million as it expanded to wide release. The Emily Blunt/Josh Brolin/Benicio Del Toro drug war movie from PRISONERS director Denis Villeneuve cost a reported $35 million, and has been in limited release for the past two weekends to gain strong critical reaction (93% on Rotten Tomatoes).
The Anne Hathaway/Robert De Niro comedy THE INTERN dropped to fourth with $11.6 million, down only 34% from last weekend's opening for a $36.5 million domestic total after ten days.
MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS was in fifth place with $7.6 million as it jogged past $200 million worldwide. Johnny Depp's mobster tale BLACK MASS dipped a spot to sixth with $5.9 million for a current domestic total of $52.5 million.
The fact-based mountain adventure EVEREST was in seventh with $5.5 million. While Jake Gyllenhaal and Josh Brolin's vertical trek has only collected a $33.1 million domestic total so far, EVEREST has climbed to a worldwide total of $136 million.
M. Night Shyamalan's horror movie THE VISIT was in eighth, followed by the religious melodrama WAR ROOM and the thriller THE PERFECT GUY closing out the Top 10.
Outside the chart, Eli Roth's cannibal terror THE GREEN INFERNO disappeared into the jungle after one week on the list. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's dizzying high-wire story THE WALK stepped out onto 448 large-format screens for $1.9 million total since Wednesday.
Next weekend has Hugh Jackman menacing a young boy in the fantasy PAN, while the biopic STEVE JOBS opens in limited release along with horror-comedy THE FINAL GIRLS and the Keanu Reeves thriller KNOCK KNOCK, and THE WALK and the Andrew Garfield/Michael Shannon real-estate thriller 99 HOMES each add hundreds of screens.
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| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Martian | $55 M | NEW |
| 2 | Hotel Transylvania 2 | $33 M | $90.5 M |
| 3 | Sicario | $12 M | $15 M |
| 4 | The Intern | $11.6 M | $36.5 M |
| 5 | Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | $7.6 M | $63.2 M |
| 6 | Everest | $5.5 M | $33.1 M |
| 7 | Black Mass | $5.9 M | $52.5 M |
| 8 | The Visit | $3.9 M | $57.6 M |
| 9 | War Room | $2.8 M | $60.5 M |
| 10 | The Perfect Guy | $2.4 M | $52.6 M |