BOX OFFICE REPORT (SEPT. 28-30): Everyone Checks Into 'Hotel Transylvania,' 'Looper' Strong at No. 2

1. Hotel Transylvania (N)
$43.00 million ($43.00 million)
Well, it looks like the box office finally had a good weekend, shaking off the funk it had been in for the past month. Hotel Transylvania debuted with a $43.00 million weekend, which is actually a record for a movie opening in September. Sweet Home Alabama opened to $35.65 million back in 2002. Apparently people like seeing Adam Sandler movies if they cant' see his face now.

Odds are that Hotel Transylvania's time at the top of the box office chart will be short, seeing as how Taken 2 hits theaters next weekend. If I had to guess, I would say that Taken 2 is going to do some major box office business. People like to watch Liam Neeson beat people up.

2. Looper (N)

$21.20 million ($21.20 million)

To those of you who make up the $21.20 million worth of tickets sold for Looper this past weekend, good job. You get it. You knew you were taking part in something special when you walked in the theater to see Looper. Now go tell all of your friends. Bug them until they see it too.

Also of note, Box Office Mojo noted that Looper is expected to open somewhere between $23 million and $25 million in China, making it "the first international movie to open higher in China than anywhere else in the world."

3. End of Watch (1)

$8.00 million ($26.17 million)
I really liked End of Watch, but I get the feeling that it's going to get caught up in the purging of a month's worth of underachievers from the top five over the next few weeks. We've already seen The Possession and Resident Evil: Retribution washed away.

4. Trouble with the Curve (3)

$7.53 million ($23.73 million)
Get off my baseball field. Seriously, if you want to see a good recent Clint Eastwood movie, go Netflix Million Dollar Baby or Gran Torino. Eastwood was just going through the motions in this one. And if you want to see Amy Adams, check out The Master. Great, great film. Director Paul Thomas Anderson's best is still There Will Be Blood though.

5. House at the End of the Street (2)

$7.15 million ($22.23 million)

Let's just let House at the End of the Street slip out of our shared memories. Pretend it never even happened. Go watch the new trailer for Silver Linings Playbook and remember that Jennifer Lawrence is a really good actress who's probably going to win an Oscar in 2013.

Next week's predictions:

1. Taken 2

2. Hotel Transylvania

3. Looper

4. Pitch Perfect

5. Frankenweenie

SOURCE: Box Office Mojo