‘Martian’ Still Has Fuel In Its Second Frame; ‘Pan’ Walks Plank; ‘Steve Jobs’ Popular In NY & LA – Monday Postmortem

6TH UPDATE, Final Monday report, 5:23 PM: There weren’t any earth-shattering changes between reported actual B.O. figures in the top 10 and Sunday morning estimates. While that might not sound so exciting, it always comes as good news to the studios: Nobody is getting dinged. 20th Century Fox’s The Martian arrived on target with $37M in its second weekend. RelishMix reports that social activity for Martian continues to soar, with the film’s YouTube views adding 3.4M during the past four days and fans reposting at an earned, owned ratio of 14 to 1. The film’s Facebook page has added 210K likes in the past week.

Other films seeing slight lifts in their actuals in the top 10 are Sony’s Hotel Transylvania 2, Lionsgate’s Sicario, 20th Century Fox’s Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Sony’s The Walk, Universal’s Everest and The Visit. Warner Bros’ Pan dipped from its Sunday estimate of $15.5M to $15.3M (the industry was expecting $15.2M). The negative social chatter on Pan took a toll on the film’s turnstiles, which slid from their $18M Friday matinee projections. Not even Hugh Jackman’s mammoth social following of 30M+ (across FB, Twitter and Instagram), to which he actively promoted, could slow the bad buzz.

The Walk‘s growth on social media is in direct relation to its less-than-spectacular wide expansion weekend ($3.7M). During the past three days, The Walk added 1.6M YouTube views per RelishMix and extended its social reach on FB and Twitter by 100k. Leading man Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who carries 5.7M FB and 3.8M TW, has been posting more about his hitRECcord online creative collaboration site than the film. On Friday, all of The Walk‘s Imax screens go to Universal’s new entry Crimson Peak, but Robert Zemeckis’ World Trade Center movie will still have the benefit of 3D.

Other takeaways from this weekend: Uni’s Amy Schumer comedy Trainwreck clicked past $110M; it’s been director Judd Apatow’s second-highest-grossing movie behind Knocked Up ($148.8M) for a few weekends. Broad Green’s 99 Homes upped its theater count from 19 theaters to 691 seeing a 555% increase for a third weekend of $648K. Uni’s Steve Jobs upticked slightly from its Sunday AM estimated of $521K to $522K at four New York and Los Angeles locations. Its $130,380 theater average is not only the best 2015 has seen so far, but it’s the sixth-best opening PTA of all-time for a live-action film behind Red State ($204K), The Grand Budapest Hotel ($203K), American Sniper ($158K), The Master ($147K) and Moonrise Kingdom ($130,749).

Total receipts clocked in at $118.6M, off 20% from the same frame a year ago. Why? Columbus Day weekend last year boasted three new entries that just happened to make more than last weekend’s crop: The Judge; Alexander And The Very Bad … Day, and Dracula Untold generated openings that ranged from $13.1M-$23.5M. In addition to Crimson Peak this Friday in 2,800 theaters, there’s also Sony’s kid pic Goosebumps which is getting a lot of heat, Disney/DreamWorks’ Bridge Of Spies and Pure Flix’s Woodlawn.

The top 20 films for the weekend of Oct. 9-11 from Rentrak Theatrical

1). The Martian (FOX), 3,854 theaters (+23) / 3-day cume: $37M (-32%)/ Total cume: $108.7M / Per screen average: $9,602/Wk 2 

2). Hotel Transylvania 2 (SONY), 3,768 theaters (+14) /3-day cume: $20.4M (-38%) / Per screen: $5,419 /Total cume: $116.9M /Wk 3

3). Pan (WB), 3,515 theaters /3-day cume: $15.3M /Per screen: $4,357 /Wk 1

4). The Intern (WB), 3,224 theaters (-96)/ 3-day cume: $8.7M (-26%)/ Per screen: $2,692 /Total cume: $49.6M/Wk 3

5). Sicario (LGF), 2,620 theaters (0) /3-day cume: $7.6M (-38%) / Per screen: $2,893 /Total cume: $26.9M /Wk 4

6). Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (FOX), 2,838 theaters (-481)/ /3-day cume: $5.4M (-31%)/ Per screen: $1,893 /Total cume: $70.8M/Wk 4

7). The Walk (SONY), 2,509 theaters (+2,061)/ 3-day cume: $3.7M (+138%)/ Per screen: $1,482 /Total cume: $6.4M /Wk 2

8). Black Mass (WB), 2,057 theaters (-711)/ 3-day cume: $3.1M (-47%)/ Per screen: $1,516 /Total cume: $57.6M /Wk 4

9). Everest (UNI), 2,120 theaters (-889) /3-day cume: $3.1M (-46%) / Per screen: $1,450 /Total cume: $38.3M/Wk 4

10). The Visit (UNI), 1,759 theaters (-537)/ 3-day cume: $2.5M (-36%) / Per screen: $1,435 / Total cume: $61.2M / Wk 5

11). War Room (SONY), 1,395 theaters (-351) / 3-day cume: $1.85M (-34%)/ Per screen: $1,326 / Total cume: $63.6M/ Wk 7

12). The Perfect Guy (SONY), 887 theaters (-477 / 3-day cume: $1.4M (-41%)/ Per screen: $1,596 / Total cume: $54.7M /Wk 5

13). Ladrones (LGF), 375 theaters /3-day cume: $1.4M / Per screen: $3,763 / Wk 1

14). He Named Me Malala (FSL), 446 theaters (+442) /3-day cume: $687K (+1,012%) / Per screen: $1,541 / Total cume: $771K /Wk 2

15). 99 Homes (BGP), 691 theaters (+672) / 3-day cume: $648K (+555%) / Per screen: $938 / Total cume: $825K / Wk 3

16). Rudrama Devi (BSKY), 135 theaters /3-day cume: $628K / Per screen: $4,653 / Wk 1

17). Steve Jobs (UNI), 4 theaters / 3-day cume: $522K / Per screen: $130,380 /Wk 1

18). Inside Out (DIS), 322 theaters (+73) /3-day cume: $441K (+84%) / Per screen: $1,368 / Total cume: $354.4M /Wk 17

19). Goodbye Mr. Loser (CHINA), 22 theaters /3-day cume: $364K /Per screen: $16,543 /Wk 1

20). The Green Inferno (HTR), 515 theaters (-1,028) / 3-day cume: $353K (-73%)/ Per screen: $686 / Total cume: $6.8M /Wk 3

5TH UPDATE, Final Sunday AM report: There’s definitely life on the Red Planet but not so much in Neverland as The Martian in its second weekend pulled off a near-total eclipse of Pan‘s debut. The 20th Century Fox Ridley Scott sci-fi film with Matt Damon as the title character charted an industry estimated weekend of $37.3M to hold onto No. 1, which is about $4M more than industry and studio projected for the film heading into the weekend. Fox is reporting $37M this morning. Like Gravity two years ago, The Martian is delivering for all demos, from the science geeks to the average Joes.  Can The Martian emulate the three-weekend No. 1 run that Gravity posted two years ago in October? The upside for Martian is that it has already established itself in the market as it faces off against Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies and Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak next weekend.  The Martian‘s demos this weekend remained in sync with its opening frame drawing 52% males and 72% over 25. New York and Los Angeles continue to be the film’s top markets with Seattle, San Francisco, Boston and Toronto overperforming.

The Martian through 10 days has mined $109M stateside per industry calculations at 3,854 venues, $108.7M per Fox; the second $100M grosser of the fall 2015 period after Sony‘s Hotel Transylvania 2 which hit $116.8M this weekend thanks to extra kids from the Columbus Day weekend holiday. HT2 is looking at an industry estimated weekend of $20.4M (Sony says $20.3M) in second place at 3,768 locations, posting another solid hold at -39% in its third sesh. HT2‘s total cume is 15% ahead of HT1 at the same point in time. That film finished its run at $148.3M.

And then there’s Pan. The Joe Wright Warner Bros. extravagance came in below its $20M expectations, which we saw as early as Friday, crashing at $15.5M in third at 3,515 playdates. Was Saturday higher than Friday? Yes, it did move from $5.2M to $6.07M, an uptick of 16%.  But so what? When you build a family film at $150M, you need to make sure you’re beating The Martian in its second weekend. While the world wasn’t screaming for another Peter Pan film, the bandwagon that Warner Bros. was jumping on here was the latest revisionist trend in classic children stories at the B.O., read Oz  The Great and Powerful, Alice in Wonderland, etc. Behind the scenes, I’m told that the making of Pan wasn’t the standard Terry Gilliam or Wachowski sibling case whereby the auteur ran amok with the corporate credit card, locked executives’ out of the editing room and clashed with studio brass. One insider close to production says that the studio and Wright worked together collaboratively on this expensive endeavor; further expounding, “You can’t blame this on the filmmaker.”  As previously mentioned, Warner Bros. had the cards stacked against it heading into the weekend no thanks to poor reviews and jaded reporters who thumbed down everything from the early 20-minute footage they watched over the summer to Rooney Mara being enlisted as Native American fictional character Tiger Lily. Overall CinemaScore is a B+; with 55% of all females giving the film an A- and 45% males giving it a B+. Under 25ers repped 48% of the audience and graded it an A- ,while the older dominating over 25 bunch at 52% gave it a B+. Unfortunately, despite all this, it’s only downhill from here for Pan. If I’m completely wrong and Pan makes $100M thanks to bumps from Thanksgiving and Christmas, I’m happy to chew on my wet socks as punishment. Critics loathe it at 23% and for any type of above-the-line awards campaign, you need those guys on your side.

Sony TriStar’s The Walk made $3.65M in its second weekend from an expansion to 2,509 locations, which puts it in seventh place. The Walk‘s 12-day cume stands at $6.4M. The Walk landed an A+ CinemaScore with audiences under 25 and an A- score overall, and as we’ve observed all along, critics have embraced the film at 87% fresh on the Tomatometer. For all the whip lashing Sony has received with the experimental roll out of this Imax wonder, you can’t fault the studio for making a riveting piece of cinema with a provocative director at a thrifty cost. The Walk is ambitious on a reasonable budget. We can’t call this film a loser yet at the B.O. because it hasn’t opened abroad and Sony is wisely staking out Imax theaters in a slow foreign release, given the fierce competition for them in the fourth quarter. Stateside next weekend, Sony will lose all its Imax hubs to Universal’s Crimson Peak. While The Walk will likely stroll away from public consciousness as the autumn becomes extremely competitive, Sony’s job now is to keep The Walk‘s good vibes alive with awards season voters (RSVPing two private Imax theaters in New York and LA could help for guild screenings). History has shown again and again that low-grossing films at the B.O. aren’t penalized during awards seasons based on their ticket stubs.

Universal/Legendary has a promising start with Steve Jobs hot off its premiere at the New York Film Festival. The Danny Boyle directed, Aaron Sorkin scripted drama which follows Apple co-founder Jobs prior to his computer product launches over three intervals in the 1980s and 90s racked up an estimated $521K at four New York and Los Angeles locales for the best per theater of the year to date of $130K (it beat Sicario‘s $67K PTA). In a market laden with awards contenders, platforming (large format aside) is the way to survive and thrive and amass water cooler buzz for smart fare which a studio wants to last. Steve Jobs expands to 23 markets next weekend before going wide the weekend of October 23. Since May, it has been circulating intriguing trailers that deliver on the film’s promise of a behind-the-scenes fierce combative drama about the eccentric visionary Jobs.

Top 10 films for the weekend of Oct. 9-11 per studio-reported figures as compiled by Deadline’s Amanda N’Duka:

1). The Martian (FOX), 3,854 theaters (+23) / $10.75M Fri.  / $15.9M Sat. (+48%) / $10.3M Sun. (-35%)/ 3-day cume: $37M (-32%)/ Total cume: $108.7M /Wk 2
Industry figure: $37.3M FSS

2). Hotel Transylvania 2 (SONY), 3,768 theaters (+14) / $5.3M Fri. / $8.9M Sat. (+68%) / $6.1M Sun. (-31%)/3-day cume: $20.3M (-39%) / Total cume: $116.8M /Wk 3
Industry figure: $20.4M FSS

3). Pan (WB), 3,515 theaters / $5.2M Fri.* / $6.1M Sat. (+16%) / $4.2M Sun. (-30%)/3-day cume: $15.5M /Wk 1
Industry figure: $15.2M FSS
*includes previews of $650K

4). The Intern (WB), 3,224 theaters (-96)/ $2.7M Fri.  /$3.7M Sat. (+41%) / $2.25M Sun. (-40%)/ 3-day cume: $8.7M (-26%)/Total cume: $49.6M/Wk 3

5). Sicario (LGF), 2,620 theaters (0) / $2.26M Fri. /$3M Sat. (+34%) / $2.1M Sun. (-31%)/3-day cume: $7.35M (-39%) /Total cume: $26.7M /Wk 4

6). Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (FOX), 2,838 theaters (-481)/ $1.5M Fri. / $2.3M Sat. (+58%) / $1.45M Sun. (-38%)/3-day cume: $5.25M (-33%)/ Total cume: $70.6M/Wk 4

7). The Walk (SONY), 2,509 theaters (+2,061)/ $1.2M Fri. /$1.5M Sat. (+25%) / $975K Sun. (-35%)/ 3-day cume: $3.65M (+134%)/ Total cume: $6.4M /Wk 2

8). Black Mass (WB), 2,057 theaters (-711)/ $945K Fri. / $1.4M Sat. (+44%) / $820K Sun. (-40%)/3-day cume: $3.1M (-46%)/Total cume: $57.6M /Wk 4

9). Everest (UNI), 2,120 theaters (-889) / $890K Fri. / $1.3M Sat. (+50%) / $806K Sun. (-40%)/3-day cume: $3M (-46%) /Total cume: $38.2M/Wk 4

10). The Visit (UNI), 1,759 theaters (-537)/ $739K Fri. /$1.1M Sat. (+54%) / $545K Sun. (-50%)/3-day cume: $2.4M (-39%) / Total cume: $61.1M / Wk 5

Notables:

Ladrones (LGF), 375 theaters / $476K Fri. / $414K Sat. (-15%) / $445K Sun. (+7%)/3-day cume: $1.3M /Wk 1

Rudrama Devi (BSKY), 135 theaters / $205K Fri. / $284K Sat. (+39%) / $156K Sun. (-45%)/3-day cume: $645K /Wk 1

Steve Jobs (UNI), 4 theaters / $174K Fri. / $187K Sat. (+7%) / $160K Sun. (-14%)/3-day cume: $521K / Per screen: 130K /Wk 1

Goodbye Mr. Loser (CHINA), 20 theaters / $116K Fri. / $143K Sat. (+23%) / $86K Sun. (-40%)/3-day cume: $345K /Wk 1

Big Stone Gap (PICH), 280 theaters / $117K Fri. / $140K Sat. (+20%) / $84K Sun. (-40%)/3-day cume: $341K /Wk 1

Hyena Road (ELVT), 173 theaters / $111K Fri. / $132K Sat. (+19%) / $73K Sun. (-45%)/3-day cume: $316K /Wk 1

The Throne (IND), 1 theaters / $5K Fri. / $9K Sat. (+81%) / $7 Sun. (-25%)/3-day cume: $20K /Wk 1

Knock Knock (LGPR), 20 theaters / $6K Fri. / $7K Sat. (+24%) / $4K Sun. (-40%)/3-day cume: $17K /Wk 1

Victoria (ADOPT), 3 theaters / $5K Fri. / $7K Sat. (+40%) / $4K Sun. (-40%)/3-day cume: $15K /Wk 1

Trash (FOCW), 1 theaters / $2K Fri. / $5K Sat. (+111%) / $3K Sun. (-25%)/3-day cume: $10K /Wk 1

Second weekend notables:

He Named Me Malala (FSL), 446 theaters (+442) / $225K Fri. / $254K Sat. (+13%) / $206K Sun. (-19%)/3-day cume: $685K (+1,004%) / Total cume: $768K /Wk 2

Singh Is Bling (ERO), 135 theaters (0) / $43K Fri. / $77K Sat. (+78%) / $54 Sun. (-30%)/3-day cume: $173K (-64) / Total cume: $810K /Wk 2

Freeheld (LGF), 51 theaters (+56) / $26K Fri. / $40K Sat. (+54%) / $28K Sun. (-30%)/3-day cume: $94K (+147) / Total cume: $142K /Wk 2

Ladyrinth Of Lies (SPC), 16 theaters (+13) / $12K Fri. / $24K Sat. (+91%) / $18K Sun. (-25%)/3-day cume: $54K (+144%) / Total cume: $93K /Wk 2

4TH UPDATE 9:54AM & 3RD UPDATE 2:27AM, Saturday: Updated figures with notables The Columbus Day holiday weekend is providing a cash kick to studios’ bank accounts thanks to 14% K-12 schools off on Friday and 40% off on Monday. Twentieth Century Fox’s The Martian continues its roll along the fertile terrain  with an estimated $10.8M Friday night (besting its $9M-$10M matinee projections) and a $36.5M second weekend (vs. its earlier $32M-$34M estimate). Sony’s Hotel Transylvania 2 is looking at a strong third weekend hold of -31% with $23M. HT2 became the first 2015 autumn film to cross the $100M mark last night (it will be at $117.5M by Sunday), and The Martian will follow as the second one on Sunday with an estimated $108.2M. Warner Bros.’ Pan needs every single child out of school and in theaters to gain any ground on its $150M estimated budget. Friday’s B.O. was only $5.1M, with an estimated second place debut of $17.4M this morning $18.25M … not so good and it’s in 3D. If Pan had cost $15M, we’d be screaming that it was the cash cow of all ages. That’s not the case with its budget right up there on the screen with full-on VFX and zero sets.

Hook and Peter Pan, previous feature adaptations of J.M. Barrie’s novel, received  A-s, but this Joe Wright origins-take on the material from Jason Fuchs’ 2013 Black List script pulled in a B+ CinemaScore. PostTrak shows that 78% of the audience said Pan was excellent or very good. It would be nice if these were promising signs for Pan in the long run; instead, it carries a 22% Rotten Tomatoes score. If reviews had been better for Pan, that might have helped drive business, given Wright’s Oscar-ish resume at the arthouse. Rentrak’s PostTrak reports that largely older females are turning up for the film respectively at 57% and 58% over 25. However, this appears to be the Hugh Jackman fan club outnumbering moms at the cinema, since only 3% of the audience was under 12.

Warner Bros. has turned its marketing machine on full blast for Pan from set pieces and stunts around the globe to Rooney Mara (Tiger Lily) and Levi Miller working down to the wire with appearances on the Today show Friday morning. They spent close to $30M in U.S. TV ads per iSpotTV with top shell-outs to the four major networks. However, the press has been shooting flaming arrows at Pan for quite some time. They completely lost it when Mara beat out Lupita Nyong’o and Adèle Exarchopoulos for the role of Tiger Lily, whom Barrie conceived as Native American. Petitions swarmed the Warner lot calling for the studio to stop casting white actors in non-white roles. (Wright defended the casting decision, claiming that Barrie never identified Tiger Lily’s nationality in the source material and that it was more appropriate to portray Neverland’s denizens in the film as a group of multi-cultural indigenous folks.)

Warner Bros. tried to dazzle the press during the summer by showing 20 minutes of Pan footage to U.S and foreign reporters. But the plan seriously backfired, with the U.K. Guardian crying “bombastic nuttiness … One particular scene in which the newly arrived Lost Boys are serenaded by the villainous Blackbeard to a chorus of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ came so far out of leftfield that it’s hard to gauge in isolation whether the moment is a curveball of anarchic genius or a pop culture horrorshow.” They also equated Jackman’s “receding hair bewigged” Blackbeard with Helena Bonham Carter’s Queen in Alice in Wonderland.

Meanwhile, Sony TriStar’s World Trade Center visual feast, The Walk, made $1.15M on Friday with an estimated $3.77M during its expanded weekend and $6.5M running cume . Per PostTrak, The Walk drew mostly males (52%), over 25 (72%). Many industry sources have slapped Sony for launching The Walk as a limited Imax/PLF release, thwarting its chances at bigger receipts. Sony clearly sent the message last weekend that Imax and PLF is the only way to see this movie, and now the studio is paying for it at the B.O. Hopefully this will not impact the film’s chances heading into awards season. Like Birdman, The Walk needs to remain hovering for some time to stay in the conversation, and the problem is that it will eventually lose all its Imax and PLF hubs to Spectre, Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, et al. The Walk has an 86% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, 72% of its audience told PostTrak that the film was excellent or good and its CinemaScore is fantastic with an A- overall and A+ with audiences under 25. Sony and director Robert Zemeckis deserve praise for delivering such a sublime portrayal of the World Trade Centers in their infancy at a reasonable estimated budget ($35M) versus Warner Bros.’ runaway extravagance Pan.

Pantelion’s Dominican Republic action comedy Ladrones is looting $1.5M this weekend at 375 playdates. Universal/Legendary’s Steve Jobs biopic, directed by Danny Boyle and scripted by Aaron Sorkin, is poised to log the best theater average so far this year with $133K, far outstripping Sicario‘s $67K. Steve Jobs’ OS at the box office is humming along thanks to 89% Rotten Tomatoes score. Uni has been tubthumping this film since May, with online and TV ad spots, spending $15.4M to date per iSpotTV. Buried, further down in the box office charts is Eli Roth’s latest horror title Knock Knock, starring Keanu Reeves, from Lionsgate Premiere which is expected to make $16K at 20 venues. Roth’s first feature film in six years, The Green Inferno, was released three weekends ago by BH/Tilt after being delayed by its beleaguered financier Worldview Entertainment. Green Inferno was part of a new limited Blumhouse distribution plan, seeing a limited release in 1,540 venues. By Sunday, Green Inferno will have only grossed $6.8M.

The top 10 films for the weekend of Oct. 9-11 as compiled by Deadline’s Amanda N’Duka:

1). The Martian (FOX), 3,854 theaters (+23) / $10.8M Fri. (-40%) / 3-day cume: $36.5M (-33%)/ Total cume: $108.2M /Wk 2

2). Hotel Transylvania 2 (SONY), 3,768 theaters (+14) / $5.3M Fri. (-29%)/ 3-day cume: $23M (-31%) / Total cume: $119.5M /Wk 3

3). Pan (WB), 3,515 theaters / $5.1M Fri. / 3-day cume: $17.4M /Wk 1

4). The Intern (WB), 3,224 theaters (-96)/ $2.66M Fri. (-26%) / 3-day cume: $8.8M (-25%)/Total cume: $49.7M/Wk 3

5). Sicario (LGF), 2,620 theaters (0) / $2.26M Fri. (-47%)/3-day cume: $7.5M (-38%) /Total cume: $26.9M /Wk 4

6). Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (FOX), 2,838  theaters (-481)/ $1.475M Fri. (-31%) / 3-day cume: $5.29M (-32%)/ Total cume: $70.67M/Wk 4

7). Black Mass (WB), theaters ()/ $946K Fri. (-48%)/ 3-day cume: $3.11M (-47%)/Total cume: $57.5M /Wk 4

8). The Walk (SONY), 2,509 theaters (+2,061)/ $1.15M Fri. (+835%)/ 3-day cume: $3.7M (+310%)/ Total cume: $6.5M /Wk 2

9). Everest (UNI), 2,120 theaters (-889) / $888K Fri. (-45%) / 3-day cume: $3.08M (-45%) /Total cume: $38.3M/Wk 4

10.) The Visit (UNI) 1,759 theaters (-537)/$734K Fri (-335)/3-day cume: $2.5M (-37%)/Total cume: $61.1M/Wk 5

Notables:

Ladrones (PANT/LG) 375 theaters/$475K Fri/3-day cume: $1.5M/Wk 1

Rudrama Devi (BSky) 135 theaters/$205K Fri/3-day cume: $634K/Wk 1

Steve Jobs (UNI) 4 theaters/$174K Fri/3-day cume: $530K/PTA: $133K/Wk 1

Big Stone Gap (Picturehouse) 280 theaters/$117K Fri/3-day cume: $351K/Wk 1

Goodbye Mr. Loser (China) 20 theaters/$111K Fri/3-day cume: $324K/Wk 1

Knock Knock (LGPR) 20 theaters/$6K Fri/3-day cume: $16K/Wk 1

Victoria (ADOPT) 3 theaters/$5K Fri/3-day cume: $14K/Wk 1

Trash (FOCW) 17 theaters/$2K Fri/3-day cume: $7K/Wk 1

2ND UPDATE, Friday 1:50 PM: Early Friday matinees show what we’ve been expecting all along: 20th Century Fox’s The Martian is scheduled to land at No. 1 again this weekend with a second frame take of $32M-$34M at 3,854 theaters, still loaded with PLF and 3D; rocket fuel that makes the Ridley Scott film go zoom. Friday alone is looking like an estimated $9M-10M. Martian will settle down by EOD on Sunday between $103.7M-$105.7M.

Warner Bros.’ expensive Pan is looking at $6M-$7M today at 3,515 venues, that includes the $650K the Joe Wright film made last night. In sum, an opening weekend that is currently at $18M-$22M putting it in third. Sony’s Hotel Transylvania 2 is still doing the monster mash with a projected $6.3M on Friday and a near $29M eye boggling third weekend, just 13% off from last weekend. It becomes the first $100M grosser of autumn tonight, followed by Martian later this weekend.

In regards to why Pan isn’t taking off, one rival studio executive didn’t attribute it to the film’s lofty $150M budget: “Audiences aren’t really in tune to budgets unless it’s a big VFX extravaganza. It’s just that moviegoers aren’t screaming out for another Peter Pan movie.” Peter Pan movies have a tortured history. Through Steven Spielberg’s 1991 twist on the J.M. Barrie tale grossed $120M, it was off a $70M extravagant budget in its day. Then there was the 2003 Universal-Revolution Studios $100M version, Peter Pan, which nobody cared about and was also overbudget, with a $48.5M domestic B.O. So the tea leaves were there and are still there: Stop making Peter Pan movies. Critics’ responded to Pan like they lost their hands to a crocodile: with a 23% Rotten Tomatoes score. Warners saw this hurricane brewing stateside for Pan and pushed the film aggressively abroad to make up lost ground with event-filled stunts in various foreign cities and a globe-trotting Hugh Jackman.

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Despite pricey Pan, Warner Bros. can take a sigh of relief knowing that they hired Nancy Meyers’ The Intern which is looking at fourth place with $7.9M, off just 32% in its third weekend for a total cume of $48.8M. Friday is estimated at $2.4M. Lionsgate’s Sicario is looking at a similar fourth Friday with an estimated weekend take of $7.6M, down 37% for a running cume by end of Sunday at $27M.

Outside the top five, Sony TriStar’s The Walk at 2,509 venues is teetering a Friday that’s between $1M-$2M putting it in line to make $6M-$7M in its second frame, +285% -349%. Total cume by Sunday will be $9M-$10M.

Meanwhile, Universal is having a better time launching Steve Jobs at four New York and Los Angeles venues than Apple Computer did in launching the Mac (I know, it’s an…apples and oranges…comparison). Distrib sources were wagging their fingers earlier this week saying that Uni needed $75K per theater in order to trumpet the Danny Boyle biopic as a success. At this point in time, Steve Jobs is set to program $133K per theater for a $175K Friday and a $531K opening weekend. Different movie for a different crowd, but if you remember, American Sniper made $633K at four NY and LA theaters during its first FSS post Christmas.

1st UPDATE: ‘Pan’ Stars Looking For Gold At Thursday Box Office