"The Martian," starring Matt Damon, rocketed to a $55 million opening in North America, beating expectations and nearly surpassing "Gravity" to become the highest-earning October release ever, as per Sunday estimates, IGN reported.
Ridley Scott's "The Martian," which follows the story of an astronaut stranded on Mars, won the weekend box office to dethrone holdover "Hotel Transylvania 2," which came in at second place.
In recent times, space-based films have been received well by audiences, with "Interstellar," which was released last fall, opening to $47.5 million in revenues and ultimately collecting $675 million worldwide. "Gravity" had a $55.8 million opening and went on to make $723 million, Variety reported.
The film's box office release was also bolstered by positive reviews, with critics describing the feature as the director's best and heavily praising Damon's performance. In addition, massive media coverage about the possible discovery of water on Mars was a big boost.
A Twentieth Century Fox release, "The Martian" cost $108 million to produce and has been shown in 3,831 locations.
Director Robert Zemeckis' "The Walk" also opened this weekend exclusively in IMAX 3D, earning an estimated $1.55 million and opens wide this Friday.
This weekend's other wide release, "Sicario," a drug cartel drama starring Emily Blunt, Benecio del Toro and Josh Brolin, collected $12 million and came in at third place, coming in just ahead of second-week film "The Intern," a comedy starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathway, which raked in $11.6 million. "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" was fifth with $7.6 million, according to The Wrap.
Here are the weekend's estimates via Rentrak:
1. "The Martian" - $55 million
2. "Hotel Transylvania 2" - $33 million
3. "Sicario" - $12.1 million
4. "The Intern" - $11.6 million
5. "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" - $7.7 million
6. "Black Mass" - $5.9 million
7. "Everest" - $5.5 million
8. "The Visit" - $3.95 million
9. "War Room" - $2.8 million
10. "The Perfect Guy" - $2.4 million
