“Taken 2,” the wham-bam action sequel starring Liam Neeson as an ex-C.I.A. agent who must once again save his family from kidnappers, opened with an incredibly strong $50 million this weekend, doubling its predecessor’s first weekend gross. Sweetening the deal: the film made an additional $67m in foreign markets, for a worldwide total of $117m, meaning it’s already close to recouping its production budget. “Taken 3” is practically a sure thing now, provided that Neeson is willing to continue to nurse his unlikely late-in-life action-star persona now that he’s eligible to order off the senior menu at most restaurants. The only question: Who’s left to kidnap? Perhaps the three-quel will fast-forward 10 years, when a 70-year-old Neeson saves his grandkid from aggressors, using his dentures as a weapon.
Fellow new release “Pitch Perfect” expanded pretty well after its word-of-mouth-building platform release last weekend, with $14.7m, which is especially solid when one considers that the movie only cost $17m to make. By contrast, Tim Burton’s $39m-budgeted “Frankenweenie” only opened to $11.5m. I predicted it would do nearly double that, but the underwhelming number isn’t surprising given the family film was shot in black-and-white, a medium that alienates mass audiences.
Holdovers “Hotel Transylvania” and “Looper” both held up nicely, dropping around 40 percent each to weekends of $26.3m and $12.2m, respectively. The folks at Sony have got to be happy that both films should become profitable via domestic box office alone — foreign and ancillary grosses will be icing on the cake.
Check out the full top 10 chart below…
| No. | Title | Weekend | Per Theater Average | Total |
| 1 | “Taken 2” | $50.0M | $13,657 | $50.0M |
| 2 | “Hotel Transylvania” | $26.3M | $7,846 | $76.0M |
| 3 | “Pitch Perfect” | $14.7M | $5,307 | $21.6M |
| 4 | “Looper” | $12.2M | $4,076 | $40.3M |
| 5 | “Frankenweenie” | $11.5M | $3,827 | $11.5M |
| 6 | “End of Watch” | $4.0M | $1,688 | $32.8M |
| 7 | “Trouble with the Curve” | $3.9M | $1,289 | $29.7M |
| 8 | “House at the End of the Street” | $3.7M | $1,360 | $27.5M |
| 9 | “The Master” | $1.8M | $2,130 | $12.3M |
| 10 | “Finding Nemo 3-D” | $1.6M | $891 | $39.0M |
Source: Box Office Mojo