It took three weeks, but Argo finally found its way to the top of the box office.
The Warner Bros. thriller from director and star Ben Affleck, inspired by the real-life rescue of six U.S. embassy workers during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, made nearly $12.4 million this weekend, according to Sunday studio estimates. Argo had been in second place the past two weeks and has now made about $60.8 million total.
| This Wk | Last Wk | Title | Distributor | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Wks Out | # of Theaters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 1 | 2 | Argo | Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution | $12,355,000 | $60,780,000 | 3 | 2855 |
| 2 | 4 | Hotel Transylvania | Sony Pictures Releasing | $9,500,000 | $130,434,000 | 5 | 3276 |
| 3 | Cloud Atlas | Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution | $9,400,000 | $9,400,000 | 1 | 2008 | |
| 4 | 1 | Paranormal Activity 4 | Paramount Pictures | $8,675,000 | $42,632,000 | 2 | 3412 |
| 5 | Silent Hill: Revelation 3D | Open Road Films | $8,000,000 | $8,000,000 | 1 | 2933 | |
| 6 | 3 | Taken 2 | 20th Century Fox Distribution | $8,000,000 | $117,389,000 | 4 | 2995 |
| 7 | 7 | Here Comes the Boom | Sony Pictures Releasing | $5,500,000 | $30,610,000 | 3 | 2491 |
| 8 | 6 | Sinister | Summit Entertainment, LLC | $5,070,000 | $39,515,000 | 3 | 2347 |
| 9 | 5 | Alex Cross | Summit Entertainment, LLC | $5,050,000 | $19,368,700 | 2 | 2541 |
| 10 | Fun Size | Paramount Pictures & Nickelodeon Movies | $4,060,000 | $4,060,000 | 1 | 3014 | |
| 11 | 8 | Pitch Perfect | Universal Pictures | $3,978,010 | $51,330,200 | 5 | 1999 |
| 12 | 9 | Frankenweenie | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | $2,412,000 | $31,754,000 | 4 | 1738 |
| 13 | Chasing Mavericks | 20th Century Fox Distribution | $2,200,000 | $2,200,000 | 1 | 2002 | |
| 14 | 10 | Looper | TriStar Pictures & Columbia Pictures & FilmDistrict & Sony Pictures Releasing | $2,100,000 | $61,500,000 | 5 | 1189 |
| 15 | 11 | Seven Psychopaths | CBS Films | $1,465,000 | $11,926,500 | 3 | 1003 |
| 16 | 12 | The Perks of Being a Wallflower | Lionsgate & Summit Entertainment, LLC | $1,400,000 | $11,207,700 | 6 | 736 |
| 17 | 16 | The Master | The Weinstein Company | $269,000 | $15,219,400 | 7 | 201 |
| 18 | 27 | The Sessions | Fox Searchlight Pictures | $230,723 | $390,366 | 2 | 20 |
| 19 | 29 | ParaNorman | Focus Features | $227,522 | $54,917,100 | 11 | 280 |
| 20 | 22 | Searching for Sugar Man | Sony Pictures Classics | $159,022 | $2,213,930 | 14 | 114 |
| 21 | 25 | The Bourne Legacy | Universal Pictures | $132,745 | $113,003,000 | 12 | 191 |
| 22 | The Other Son | The Cohen Media Group | $115,000 | $115,000 | 1 | 35 | |
| 23 | 42 | The Expendables 2 | Lionsgate | $105,000 | $84,697,500 | 11 | 178 |
| 24 | 15 | Atlas Shrugged: Part II — The Strike | Atlas Distribution Company & Rocky Mountain Pictures | $86,000 | $3,200,000 | 3 | 147 |
| 25 | 44 | Smashed | Sony Pictures Classics | $44,436 | $149,949 | 3 | 21 |
| 26 | 41 | The Untouchables | The Weinstein Company | $35,000 | $12,883,000 | 23 | 48 |
| 27 | Middle of Nowhere | AFFRM & Participant Media | $30,134 | $166,935 | 1 | 24 | |
| 28 | 58 | Brooklyn Castle | Producers Distribution Agency | $30,093 | $53,965 | 1 | 8 |
| 29 | 34 | Lawless | The Weinstein Company | $29,000 | $37,338,100 | 9 | 96 |
| 30 | 39 | The Possession | Lionsgate | $28,000 | $48,874,500 | 9 | 82 |
Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros., said the studio thought there might be a good chance of Argo coming out on top this weekend.
“We’re thrilled. An accomplishment like that is well deserved, they don’t happen very often. You would probably have to do a lot of searching to find a movie that opened in wide release to have two No. 2 weekends in a row and hit No. 1 in the third week,” Fellman said. “It’s a tribute to the film. Word-of-mouth has taken over the campaign. We have a long way to go, we have a lot of year-end accolades which will approach, and we’ll see what happens in terms of the Academy.”