LOS ANGELES (AP) – “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” has checked into the No. 1 spot at the box office in its opening weekend and left the Dwayne Johnson action thriller, “Skyscraper,” in the dust.
Sony Pictures estimated Sunday that the animated family movie earned $44.1 million from North American theaters. As the first in the franchise to open in the summer, it’s just slightly under the previous installment’s $48.5 million debut in September 2015.
Worldwide, “Hotel Transylvania 3” has already earned more than $100 million.
“It’s really terrific,” said Adrian Smith, Sony’s head of domestic distribution. “We’re positioned to take advantage of the valuable summer weekdays and there are six weeks of summer left.”
The successful series has grossed over $900 million worldwide to date.
Going into the weekend, experts expected a three-way race to the top between “Hotel Transylvania 3,” ″Skyscraper” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” but the family film won by a large margin.
“There haven’t been a lot of options for families this summer,” said comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “They become instant hits.”
