I concluded last week’s article with optimism for 20th Century Fox, hoping that it would rebound this weekend with “Taken 2” after last weekend’s failure in newcomer “Won’t Back Down.” As it turns out, Fox did rebound, as “Taken 2” had a tremendously strong debut with approximately $50 million. The only other new release in the top 10 was Disney’s “Frankenweenie,” which had a disappointing opening. Second-week films “Hotel Transylvania,” “Pitch Perfect” and “Looper” also maintained profit.

Fox’s “Taken 2” dominated this weekend’s box office and doubled the opening of the first film, “Taken,” which earned $24.7 million its opening weekend. “Taken 2” had a production budget of $45 million and opened in 3,661 theaters, which yields roughly $13,657 per theater. What’s surprising is that despite critics’ negative reviews and a terrible 20-percent rating on film aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film was still a success. Perhaps the first film’s very strong reputation carried over three years later and kept audiences anticipating the new sequel.

While “Taken 2” saw box office success despite negative reviews, Disney’s “Frankenweenie” saw box office failure despite positive reviews. Tim Burton’s black-and-white, stop-motion animated film opened with a disappointing $11.4 million, behind a production budget of $39 million. The opening comes as somewhat of a shock to Disney, who has relied on the prestige of Burton for a number of its films, including 2005’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” with a $56.2-million opening and 2010’s hit “Alice in Wonderland” with a $116.1-million opening.

There are a number of reasons that contribute to the failure of “Frankenweenie.” First, even though Disney heavily marketed the film and showcased Burton’s name on its advertisements, the studio made the wrong decision in releasing “Frankenweenie” the weekend after Sony Pictures Animation’s “Hotel Translyvania.” Granted, Disney executives were unaware that “Hotel Translyvania” would be so successful, but regardless, the decision to place its animated film the weekend after Sony’s animated film was not an intelligent one. Additionally, while most big-studio animated films are profitable, the fact that “Frankenweenie” is a black-and-white, stop-motion animated film may have deterred audiences.

There are four films opening this coming weekend, including Warner Bros. “Argo,” Sony’s “Here Comes the Boom,” CBS Films’ “Seven Psychopaths” and Summit Entertainment’s “Sinister.” Out of these four films, “Argo” will most likely have the strongest opening because of its Oscar buzz.

– Written by Ian Tecklin, contributing writer, ijteckli@syr.edu