The outer space thriller Gravity topped the box office for a second week in a row as it soared past the $100 million mark and dominated fellow Oscar contender Captain Phillips, which bowed with an estimated $26 million.  But Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills bombed as it failed to earn even four million dollars despite debuting in more than 2,500 theaters.  Overall the box office was down about 11% from the same weekend last year when Taken 2 ruled the charts for the second week in a row.
 
Gravity fell just 20.7% in its second weekend, the smallest drop ever for a film opening over $55 million.  So far Alfonso Cuaron’s outer space survival saga has earned $123.4 million as it has consistently lured older viewers back to the Cineplex.  The casting of Sandra Bullock in the key role was obviously a masterstroke.  She is clearly an actress that audiences care about, which makes her a natural for the role of an astronaut spinning through space.  Gravity also demonstrates that if you use 3-D well, American audiences will respond—84% of the Gravity’s 2nd weekend total came from 3-D screenings, with IMAX venues accounting for 20% of the total take.

Though some expected that Tom Hanks’ star power might propel Captain Phillips to a box office victory, Gravity’s exceptional grosses during the weekdays leading up to last weekend had most analysts predicting a repeat for Cuaron’s outer space saga.  Paul Greengrass’s Somali pirate drama Captain Phillips couldn’t overcome Gravity, but it did establish a firm foothold in the marketplace with its $26 million debut, not a bad opening for an adult-skewing, politically charged drama with Oscar prospects (last years "Best Picture" Argo opened with just $19.5 million last October.  Like Gravity, Captain Phillips, which skewed slightly male (52%), appealed to an older crowd with 60% of the audience over 35.  The good news for Captain Phillips going forward is the opening weekend audiences gave the film a solid "A" CinemaScore.  While it might never overcome Gravity, Captain Phillips, which cost $55 million to produce, should do quite well for itself.

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): October 11-13, 2013
	Film	Weekend Gross	Screens	Avg./ Screen	Total Gross	Wk#
1	Gravity	$44,265,000	3,660	$12,094	$123,400,000	2
2	Captain Phillips	$26,000,000	3,020	$8,609	$26,000,000	1
3	Cloudy w/ a Chance of Meatballs 2	$14,200,000	3,874	$3,665	$78,037,000	3
4	Machete Kills	$3,797,000	2,538	$1,496	$3,797,000	1
5	Runner Runner	$3,725,000	3,026	$1,231	$14,114,000	2
6	Prisoners	$3,665,000	2,855	$1,284	$53,620,000	4
7	Insidious Chapter 2	$2,650,000	2,156	$1,229	$78,447,000	5
8	Rush (2013)	$2,364,000	2,130	$1,110	$22,202,000	4
9	Don Jon	$2,340,000	1,996	$1,172	$20,141,000	3
10	Baggage Claim	$2,075,000	1,320	$1,572	$18,272,000	3

 
Sony’s Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 dropped 32.2% in its third weekend and finished in third place with an estimated $14.2 million, bringing its domestic cumulative to $78 million.  Overall the film continues to perform at a lower level than its predecessor, though it still has a few weeks without major competition that should enable it to pad its numbers somewhat.
 
There is no such hope for Rodriguez’ Machete Kills, which in spite of a cast that includes Mel Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Danny Trejo, earned under $4 million.  Machete Kills posted the lowest total yet in Rodriguez’s career.  It appears that Sin City 2 can’t come soon enough to restore the director’s fortunes.
 
Fox’s gambling picture Runner Runner was the only film in the top 10 to drop more than 50% as it earned an estimated $3.7 million to bring its total to $14.1 million.  The $30 million production has almost no chance of recouping its cost. 
 
The bottom half of the top ten includes the solid, but unspectacular Oscar-contending drama Prisoners, the hugely successful horror film Insidious Chapter 2, which was made for $5 million and yet has earned $78.4 million, Ron Howard’s Formula 1 racing drama Rush, which will need to do well overseas to make back its $38 million cost, and Joseph Gordon Leavitt’s sex addition comedy Don Jon, which hasn’t don’t all that much at the box office ($20.1 million), but has still made money due to its modest $6 million cost.
 
Check back here next week to find out what happens when a raft of new movies including a remake of the Stephen King horror classic Carrie, the Sly Stallone prison drama Escape Plan, the wikileaks saga The Fifth Estate, and the Oscar contending historical drama 12 Years as a Slave all open.