Fall is in the air. In many parts of the country, people are kicking aside their shorts and sliding into their wool sweaters, dumping their iced tea for hot chocolate and watching for their collective breath to turn all misty. Why, even in the enclosed confines of the local multiplex, folks are getting the shivers.
Goosebumps, a kid-friendly “horror” movie based on the popular book series, crawled into the box office’s top spot and uttered a ghostly laugh as it stared down at its competitors. It earned $23.5 million, then used that cash to shut down Ridley Scott’s October Martian invasion of No. 1.
Not that The Martian is beating a hasty retreat, mind you. Scott’s well-regarded space tale earned another $21.5 million, pushing its total haul to $143.8 mil. Sure, those aren’t Jurassic World-type numbers, but I’m guessing the dollar stretches a bit farther on the Red Planet. Or it might be totally worthless, because, y’know, there aren’t any stores up there.
Speaking of chilly movies, Steven Spielberg’s Cold War story Bridge of Spies earned $15.4 million—enough cash to reach third place. It bested yet another newcomer, Guillermo del Toro’s lush-but-grotesque fright-flick Crimson Peak ($12.9 million). Hotel Transylvania 2 finished fifth with $12.3 million.
Woodlawn—a high-profile Christian flick and the weekend’s fourth major big-screen debut—earned $4.1 million en route to a ninth-place finish. Box Office Mojo notes that Woodlawn earned just a touch less than Jon Erwin’s previous movie, Moms’ Night Out ($4.3 mil), and needed about 500 more theaters to do so. But Christian movie-lovers, do not begin the hand-wringing just yet: Box Office Mojo also noted that the folks who saw Woodlawn loved it—to the tune of an A+ CinemaScore. And that kind of enthusiasm can often translate into stronger returns over time.
Final figures update: 1. Goosebumps, $23.6 million; 2. The Martian, $21.3 million; 3. Bridge of Spies, $15.4 million; 4. Crimson Peak, $13.1 million; 5. Hotel Transylvania 2, $12.6 million. Woodlawn earned $4 million to finish ninth.
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