After a September slump, the box office has finally rebounded.

This past weekend set a September record and was up 19 percent from this time last year, according to box office tracking website Box Office Mojo. It was clearly a Sony weekend, as the top two films were Sony’s “Hotel Transylvania” and “Looper,” which took in $42.5 million and $20.8 million, respectively. Other new releases included Universal’s “Pitch Perfect” and Fox’s “Won’t Back Down.”

There are two important lessons to be learned from Sony’s record-breaking “Hotel Transylvania” release. First, the success of the debut demonstrates that Adam Sandler’s star power still attracts moviegoers. Audiences have been weary of Sandler, whose recent string of embarrassing flops include “Jack and Jill” and “That’s My Boy.”

With the success of “Hotel Transylvania,” audiences clearly have not forgotten about the actor. As long as Sandler continues to star in original, well-made movies that feature characters similar to his typical, humorous on-screen personas, audiences will continue to pay to see his films.

The second lesson that can be learned from the successful debut of “Hotel Transylvania” is that Sony has officially established itself as a threat to other studios that release animated films. Specifically, animation-dependent studios like Pixar and DreamWorks Animation must now work even harder to come up with original ideas for films that will resonate with viewers.

Though only established in 2002, Sony Pictures Animation has already released a string of successful animated films, including “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” and “The Smurfs,” which domestically earned $124.9 million and $142.6 million, respectively. And with the $42.5 million opening of “Hotel Transylvania,” which had a production budget of $85 million, the studio can now depend on animation as a viable revenue source.

Sony’s other successful release was sci-fi thriller “Looper,” which debuted at No. 2 and earned $20.8 million behind a production budget of $30 million. With star power in Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, substantial buzz on social media and an impressive 93-percent ranking on film aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, “Looper” is destined to continue its box-office success in the coming weeks through word-of-mouth.

Universal’s newcomer, “Pitch Perfect,” opened at No. 6 with just over $5 million behind a production budget of $17 million. Though only playing in 355 theaters, the a cappella comedy will expand to 2,800 theaters this coming weekend. The “A” rating on CinemaScore and similarities to popular sing-along show “Glee” should be a driving force for the targeted young female audience.

The final new release in the top 10 came from Fox’s “Won’t Back Down.” Despite featuring acclaimed actresses Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis, the $19-million teaching drama clearly did not resonate with viewers, as it only opened with a disappointing $2.6 million. It played in 2,515 theaters, which means that the film yielded a humiliating $1,034 per theater, which is one of the worst openings in years. Hopefully Fox will have more success with its release of “Taken 2” this coming weekend.

– Written by Ian Tecklin, contributing writer, ijteckli@syr.edu

Published on October 4, 2012 at 12:10 am