Movie

The latest James Wan-directed pic becomes the second-biggest opener of 2013 for a horror movie and posts the second-highest debut for a September release.

• Sep 16, 2013

AceShowbiz - "Insidious Chapter 2" sets some records. The "Insidious" sequel opened to $20.1M on Friday the 13th (including $1.5M in Thursday's late shows and Friday's midnights) and added $13.4M on Saturday, to eventually bow at No. 1 on North American box office with an impressive $41 million against a mere budget of $5 million. The first movie only debuted to $13.3 million in April 2011.

The FilmDistrict movie starring Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne scores the second-biggest horror opening of 2013, nearly matching the $41.9 million debut of New Line's "The Conjuring" released last July. James Wan directed both horror stories. It also marks the third-biggest debut for a pure supernatural horror film with 2011's "Paranormal Activity 3" still holding the biggest title with $52M.

Moreover, the scary movie posts September's second-highest movie opening ever behind 2012's animated "Hotel Transylvania" ($42.5M). It also marks the best live-action debut for a horror pic in this traditionally slow month. Only three movies from similar genre in the past decade have ever crossed the $30 million mark in its debut weekend. One of them, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose", did so back in 2005.

Receiving a "B+" CinemaScore, the second "Insidious" was watched by audience comprising of 52|percent| male and 48|percent| female with 62|percent| under the age of 25 and 38|percent| older. It's apparently the result of FilmDistrict's marketing strategy that targeted young horror fans by focusing on female audience during cable draws like "Pretty Little Liars" and its growing Hispanic market.

The second-biggest debut this week is Relativity's "The Family". Getting a "C" CinemaScore, the dark mob comedy starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro entered with approximately $14.5 million. 83|percent| of its audience were over 25. "We are pleased with the result and the film's performance. The point is that the movie cost $30M and it's going to make back half its budget in opening weekend," insisted an executive at the studio.

Rounding up the top 3 is last week's box office leader, "Riddick", which added another $7 million (down 63.2|percent|) in its second weekend, bringing its domestic cume to $31.3 million. "Lee Daniels' The Butler" follows with an estimated $5.6 million to finally cross the $100 million mark domestically in its fifth weekend. "We're the Millers" trails closely behind the historical drama with approximately $5.4 million to give it a total of $131M.

1. "Insidious Chapter 2" - $41 million
2. "The Family" - $14.5 million
3. "Riddick" - $7 million
4. "Lee Daniels' The Butler" - $5.6 million
5. "We're the Millers" - $5.4 million
6. "Instructions Not Included" - $4.1 million
7. "Planes" - $2.9 million
8. "One Direction: This Is Us" - $2.4 million
9. "Elysium" - $2.2 million
10. "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" - $1.8 million