Box Office: ‘Pan’ Disappoints, ‘The Martian’ Takes Top Spot Again

The Matt Damon journey to Mars space epic, The Martian, took the top spot at the box office for the second week in a row after Pan, the star-studded re-imagining of the Peter Pan story, failed to deliver on expectations.

According to the L.A. Times, The Martian is estimated to bring in a solid $37 million take in its second week at the box office. The Martian, screen written by The Cabin in the Woods scribe Drew Goddard and directed by legendary sci-fi auteur Ridley Scott, stars Damon as an astronaut who, presumed dead, ends up stranded on Mars, struggling to survive. The movie is based on a novel of the same name written by Andy Weir. The film’s studio, 20th Century Fox, described Damon’s plight in the intergalactic tale.

“During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit, and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring ‘the Martian’ home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return.”

The Martian‘s $37 million take brings its total two week box office earnings to just over $108.7 million, meaning that it has already made back its $108 million budget and is already profitable, and appears to show no signs of slowing down. Last week, The Martian opened to the second largest October box office opening, coming just $700,000 shy of beating Gravity for the top spot.

The Martian breaks what had otherwise been a dismal Hollywood spell for under performing Mars-based films, and comes at a time where real life news of potential water and life on the red planet seems to have reignited interest and intrigue into the subject.

Hotel Transylvania 2 continued to show the staying power and box office endurance of solid animated films, claiming the No. 2 spot for the second week in a row. The film is estimated to earn just over $20.3 million in its third week to bring its box office total to just over $116.8 million. The movie experienced just a 38.8 percent drop from the previous week’s box office take, where it similarly only dipped 31.9 percent from its opening week.

Pan was the major disappointment at the box office this week. The live action Warner Brothers retelling of the story of Peter Pan, which stars Hugh Jackman, was projected to bring in just $20 million in its opening weekend, according to the L.A. Times‘ Saba Hamedy, but is only projecting $15.5 million, according to Box Office Mojo. The film, produced in associated with Rat Pac-Dune Entertainment, cost $150 million to make and proved to be a dud for Warner Bros., who enjoyed some success this year with Mad Max: Fury Road and San Andreas, but currently trails Disney and Universal, both of which have had monster years behind such box office blockbusters Avengers: Age of Ultron and Jurassic World, in year-to-date box office earnings.

Rounding out the top five are fellow Warner Bros. movie mate The Intern, which added which is expected to earn just over $8.6 million to bring its box office total to just over $49.5 million in three weeks of release in the fourth spot, and Lionsgate’s Sicario, which brought in $7.35 million, to bring its fourth week earnings to just over $26.7 million for fifth place.

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials finally dropped out of the top five in its fourth week of release, and is expected to bring in $5.2 million, bringing its box office total so far to just over $70.6 million.

[Image: 20th Century Fox]