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Taken 2 rocked the box office on Friday with a massive $18.6 million debut, which puts it on pace for one of the highest openings ever in October. Meanwhile, Pitch Perfect performed fine on a nationwide scale while Frankenweenie failed to find its way out of the shadow of Hotel Transylvania. Tim Burton

Hotel Transylvania and Looper teamed up to end September on a high note, and that positive trend will continue in the first weekend of October thanks to the debut of highly-anticipated action sequel Taken 2. Frankenweenie should also make a solid contribution, though it faces stiff competition from Hotel Transylvania, while Pitch Perfect expands nationwide after a great start in limited release. Overall business will undoubtedly wind up significantly ahead of the same frame last year when the domestic box office generated $95.1 million. Liam NeesonTim Burton

September is typically a slow month at the box office, and this year was no exception: overall business came in at around $571 million, which is easily the lowest-grossing month so far this year. It was off five percent from last September's record-setting $603.5 million, and was the third month in a row and fifth of the last six to wind up lower than its 2011 predecessor. Still, it was an improvement over every other September, and a lot of that can be attributed to the strong final weekend led by Hotel Transylvania.Sam RaimiDavid AyerClint Eastwood

Coinciding with its domestic debut, Looper got off to a very good start in a handful of key foreign markets this weekend.

The box office rebounded substantially this weekend thanks to a record-setting debut from Hotel Transylvania and a solid start for trippy time travel movie Looper. Pitch Perfect also impressed in limited release, while Won't Back Down had one of the worst nationwide openings in years. The Top 12 earned $106.7 million, which is up 19 percent from the same frame last year.Adam SandlerBruce WillisDavid AyerClint Eastwood

After a month of consistently awful box office, audiences came back to the movies on Friday for Hotel Transylvania and Looper. Pitch Perfect also did great business in limited release, though not everything was sunshine and rainbows: Won't Back Down performed terribly, and is on track for one of the worst openings of the year.

September was the third-straight month where the box office declined year-over-year, which puts a lot of pressure on October to turn things around. With major sequels Taken 2 and Paranormal Activity 4 on the schedule, along with other potential hits like Frankenweenie and Argo, there's a good chance that this month winds up ahead of last year's $611 million; however, topping October 2009's record $693.4 million will be tough without any significant surprises.Liam NeesonTim BurtonAnna KendrickRebel WilsonBen AffleckKevin James

After a few agonizingly slow weeks, the box office should experience a bit of a bump in the final weekend in September thanks to the debuts of Hotel Transylvania and Looper. Both movies are being released by Sony, with Hotel Transylvania coming from the main Columbia division while Looper is being handled by the TriStar department. Public school drama Won't Back Down is also opening in nationwide release, while Universal is experimenting with an early limited release for Pitch Perfect this weekend. Joseph Gordon-LevittBruce WillisAdam SandlerMaggie GyllenhaalViola Davis

The fifth installment in the Resident Evil franchise once again dominated the overseas box office, while The Expendables 2, Ted and The Dark Knight Rises reached milestones this weekend. Brad Pitt

It was one of the tightest races in years for first place at the box office this weekend, though all three movies in contention had fairly mediocre debuts. With actuals reporting, End of Watch wound up less than $1 million ahead of House at the End of The Street and Trouble with the Curve. Without any break-out hit, the Top 12 earned $75 million this weekend, which is off a whopping 29 percent from the same frame last year.David AyerClint Eastwood

House at the End of The Street, End of Watch and Trouble with the Curve were all in a heated race for first place on Friday, though none of them were very impressive. At least they all did better than Dredd, which is looking like a major misfire at this point.Jennifer LawrenceDavid AyerClint EastwoodPaul Thomas Anderson

Four brand-new movies are opening in nationwide release this weekend, though they are all modest enough that $20 million should be good enough for first place. Featuring 82-year-old Clint Eastwood's first starring role in four-and-a-half years, baseball drama Trouble with the Curve seems to have a slight advantage going in to the weekend, though House at the End of The Street, End of Watch and Dredd could all be in contention as well. Additionally, Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master is expanding nationwide after one of the best limited debuts ever.Jennifer LawrenceDavid Ayer

Resident Evil: Retribution had a huge opening overseas this weekend with $49.6 million from 50 markets. Across the same territories, the last Resident Evil movie only debuted to around $39 million, suggesting that the latest chapter could top that movie's $236.1 million franchise high.

Two major new releases had fine openings this weekend, though they weren't strong enough to resurrect a depressed domestic box office. Bradley CooperPaul Thomas AndersonNicolas Cage

The box office rebounded a bit on Friday, though Resident Evil: Retribution and Finding Nemo (3D) both fell short of their predecessors. Paul Thomas Anderson

Midnight Update: Resident Evil: Retribution grossed an estimated $665,000 at midnight last night, which is up a bit from the last Resident Evil's $625,000. That movie went on to set a series record with a $26.7 million debut, and Retribution will likely wind up at about the same level for the three-day weekend. Paul Thomas AndersonMichelle RodriguezRichard GereNicolas CageJosh Radnor

Similar to the domestic box office, international business was fairly slow this past weekend. The Expendables 2 wound up in first place thanks to a very strong $25 million seven-day opening in China. Based on the figures that are currently available, the movie has already earned over $158 million overseas, and is on pace to easily pass the original movie's estimated $171 million foreign total within the next week.

With two lousy new releases and a handful of mediocre holdovers, the box office reached its lowest point in years this weekend. The Top 12 earned $51.9 million, which is 37 percent below 2012's previous low. It's also the worst gross since this same weekend in 2008 ($50.3 million). Bradley CooperMichael MooreHenry CavillBruce WillisSteven Spielberg

The Possession held on to first place on what was likely the lowest-grossing Friday since September 2008. Among openers, The Words underwhelmed while The Cold Light of Day performed about as poorly as expected.Christopher Nolan