Ben Affleck's political thriller Argo may have triumphed this weekend at the box office, but overall theater attendance was sluggish as the East Coast prepares for Hurricane Sandy to make impact.
In its third weekend in theaters, Affleck's Argo — costarring Brian Cranston and John Goodman — earned an estimated $12.36 million, according to early Box Office Mojo numbers. In the 17 days since its release, the film has grossed $60.8 million.
Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg's Hotel Transylvania placed second in its fifth weekend in theaters, earning an estimated $9.5 million take.
The Halle Berry–Tom Hanks sci-fi film Cloud Atlas, based on the book by David Mitchell, debuted to a disappointing $9.4 million. The project, directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski, was the weekend's highest-rated debut film, but was the worst nationwide opening for Hanks since 1996's That Thing You Do!.
Rounding out the weekend's top five films were Paranormal Activity 4 ($8.675 million) and Taken 2 and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, which tied for a fifth place finish with $8 million in receipts.
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