Weekend box office for September 13 - 15, 2013: James Wan scares audiences again with Insidious

Insidious: Chapter 2's estimated $41.1 million opening was the weekend's highest, in addition to being the second-highest September opening following Hotel Transylvania's $42.5 million opening. It's slightly less than the $41.9 million start of director James Wan's last film, The Conjuring. The two horror films have given Wan the unusual distinction of becoming the second director to have two $40 million+ debuts within a year (the Wachowskis beat him with the Matrix sequels), and he's sure to add a third with the July 2014 release of Fast & Furious 7. IC2 easily beat the first film's $13 million opening and will pass its $54 million total, but it likely won't have the legs of Wan's last two hits. It already looks more frontloaded than Conjuring, which grossed millions less on its opening day yet finished slightly higher.

The Family opened second with a decent $14.5 million. Riddick dropped 63% but was budgeted accordingly and should meet expectations. The Butler passed $100 million and We're the Millers continues remaining right behind it. The other August openers--Planes, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and especially Elysium--weren't so successful here but have respectable worldwide numbers of $138.8, $164.6 and $232.4 million. Monsters U will soon beat Up's $731 million and, worldwide, become Pixar's third most successful film. See how other movies performed here.

Weekend box office estimates for September 13 - 15, 2013:
(rank, title, weekend gross, percent change, total gross, weekend #)

1. Insidious: Chapter 2; $41,050,000; opening weekend

2. The Family (2013); $14,500,000; opening weekend

3. Riddick; $7,013,000; -63.1%; $31,280,000 total; 2nd weekend

4. Lee Daniels' The Butler; $5,582,000; -33.6%; $100,041,000 total; 5th weekend

5. We're the Millers; $5,415,000; -29.6%; $131,602,000 total; 6th weekend

6. Instructions Not Included; $4,250,000; -47.8%; $26,581,000 total; 3rd weekend

7. Planes; $3,066,000; -25.6%; $82,984,000 total; 6th weekend

8. One Direction: This is Us; $2,400,000; -40.7%; $26,887,000 total; 3rd weekend

9. Elysium; $2,050,000; -34.7%; $88,388,000 total; 6th weekend

10. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters; $1,825,000; -24.8%; $62,035,000 total; 6th weekend