BOX OFFICE REPORT (NOV. 1-3): 'Ender's Game' Wins the Weekend but Was It Enough to Launch a Franchise?

The age of the young adult novel-turned-blockbuster is over. After Harry Potter and the Twilight Saga successfully jumped from being best-selling books to massive hits at the box office, it looks like The Hunger Games will be the final property to follow in their footsteps. Over the past year, we've seen The Host, The Mortal Instruments and Percy Jackson all fail to spark moviegoers' interests. While Ender's Game won its opening weekend with $28 million, that's not good enough to be counted in the same company as franchises like The Hunger Games, not when The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is expected to open to possibly $150 million or more in a few weekends.

Beyond the top five, 12 Years a Slave expanded to 410 theaters, grossing $4.6 million in the process. The Oscar contender should continue to expand over the next few weeks.

1. Ender's Game (NR)
Weekend gross: $28.00 million / Total domestic gross: $28.00 million / 
Percent drop: NA
Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate clearly hoped that Ender's Game would be the start of a new franchise, but I'm not sure if that'll happen now. The movie had a $110 million budget, and a $28 million opening weekend isn't enough to justify another installment. With Thor: The Dark World opening next weekend, Ender's Game has virtually no time to make back its budget at this point.

2. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (1st)

Weekend gross: $20.50 million / Total domestic gross: $62.06 million / 
Percent drop: 36.0
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa fell just 36 percent in its second weekend, giving it strength to hold off new releases Last Vegas and Free Birds.

3. Last Vegas (NR)

Weekend gross: $16.52 million / Total domestic gross: $16.52 million / 
Percent drop: NA
Last Vegas pulled off a surprise performance during its opening weekend, coming it a No. 3. I guess a movie about a bunch of baby boomers hitting up Las Vegas appeals to the biggest movie-going population: Baby boomers.

4. Free Birds (NR)

Weekend gross: $16.00 million / Total domestic gross: $16.00 million / 
Percent drop: NA
Meh. I'm sure Free Birds could've timed things better if it held off until Thanksgiving weekend, but with Thor: The Dark World and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on the way, this weekend was pretty much it for Free Birds.

5. Gravity (2nd)

Weekend gross: $13.13 million / Total domestic gross: $219.20 million / 
Percent drop: 34.8

Gravity crossed the $200 million mark before this weekend, becoming the eighth highest grossing movie of 2013. Will Gravity's box office success help it come Oscar season? If the Academy wants to keep its ceremony connected to regular moviegoers, it'll be wise to make sure a movie that a ton of people saw in the running.

Next week's predictions

1. Thor: The Dark World

2. Ender's Game

3. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

4. Last Vegas

5. Gravity

SOURCE: Box Office Mojo