Weekend Estimates: Insidious Number Two September Opener

September 15, 2013

Going into the weekend, Insidious Chapter 2 was widely expected to enjoy a comfortable win at the box office, but almost no-one thought it would open with over $40 million. It will do just that though, with FilmDistrict projecting a $41.05 million debut -- comfortably a record for the studio, ahead of the $30.3 million opening enjoyed by Olympus Has Fallen in another off-season spot (March 22). It'll also be the second-biggest September weekend at the box office, just behind Hotel Transylvania's $42.5 million last year.

In second place this weekend is The Family, which is pegged to make about $14.5 million, again somewhat ahead of expectations and a great performance for a black comedy.

The rest of the top 10 looks fairly weak, with Riddick taking a steep 63% tumble in its second weekend and everything else winding down.

Several movies are making impressive starts in limited release though. Mother of George leads the field with $22,456 predicted from a single theater. Final: The Rapture is projected to average close $16,000 from two theaters. Three other films, Wadjda, Blue Caprice and GMO OMG are all expected to bring in around $13,000 in one theater each. The final member of the $10,000 club to report so far is Salinger, which continues in 4 theaters and will be off quite sharply from its opening weekend with an expected average of $11,252.

The strength at the top of the chart will give this weekend an easy win over this weekend last year, which was led by a $21.1 million debut by Resident Evil: Retribution.

- Weekend Estimates

Bruce Nash bruce.nash@the-numbers.com

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, The Family, Insidious Chapter 2, Wadjda, Salinger, Mother of George, Blue Caprice, GMO OMG, Final: The Rapture