This weekend’s box office results brought good news for “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation”, with the The Hollywood Reporter reporting that the third instalment of the family-friendly animated franchise scaring up the #1 position thanks to a domestic take of $44.1 million, topping $100 million globally.
The latest film features Adam Sandler’s Dracula and the rest of his monstrous pals hitting the high seas on a luxury cruise, with Drac finding himself unexpectedly falling in love with the ship’s captain (Kathryn Hahn).
“We expected a three-horse race and we are incredibly happy to be #1. It’s a very competitive market,” Sony president of worldwide marketing and distribution Josh Greenstein told THR of the success of “Hotel Transylvania 3”.
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The news was not nearly so good for Dwayne Johnson’s big-budget action flick “Skyscraper”, which brought in a paltry $25.5 million domestically, along with an addition $40.4 mil overseas for a worldwide total of $65.9 million in its debut weekend.
With a budget reported to be in the $130-million range, the opening weekend take for “Skyscraper” fell well below expectations, leading some to wonder the Johnson’s fans are experiencing Rock fatigue, given that this is his fifth film in 14 months.
However, hope springs eternal at Universal Pictures, which produced the Vancouver-shot film about a former FBI hostage negotiator who springs into action when his wife (Neve Campbell) and children are trapped inside the world’s tallest building after it’s been set on fire by nefarious villains.
“We have a lot of summer left, and our audience is very broad,” insists Universal domestic distribution president Jim Orr. “And Dwayne Johnson is literally and figuratively the biggest movie star in the planet, and we’re thrilled to be in business with him.”
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With “Hotel Transylvania 3” in the top spot, the rest of the weekend’s top five at the box office are: “Ant-Man and the Wasp” at #2, bringing in $28.8 million in its second weekend for a total domestic take of $132.8 million; “Skyscraper” with an opening-weekend domestic take of $25.5 million landing it in third place; “Incredibles 2”, capturing fourth place by bringing in an additional $16.2 million in its fifth weekend of release, for a domestic total of $535.8 million; and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” at #5, adding an additional $15.5 million in its fourth weekend to result in a domestic total of $363.3 million.
