'Hotel Transylvania 2' Leads Weekend Box Office with $48.5 Million

"Hotel Transylvania 2" topped the weekend box office, well ahead of Warner Bros. Anne Hathaway/Robert DeNiro comedy "The Intern" (Photy by Sony Pictures Entertainment)

LOS ANGELES - Sony's animated “Hotel Transylvania 2” led the weekend box office with $48.5 million, while giving the film's star Adam Sandler and Sony a big lift after a series of box office flops.

Sandler, once among the top movie draws for the studio, has endured a number of flops in recent years such as “Blended,” “That’s My Boy," “Jack and Jill” and most recently the video game comedy “Pixels” which fell flat earlier this year.

“Hotel Transylvania 2” is the studio’s biggest opening since “22 Jump Street” premiered to $57 million in June 2014.It also set a new record for September, topping its predecessor “Hotel Transylvania’s” $42.5 debut in 2012.

Warner Bros.'s "The Intern" starring Anne Hathaway and Robert DeNiro came in second with $17.73 million on its opening weekend. The $40 million film written and produced by Nancy Meyers was Meyers'best opening weekend ahead of her "Something's Gotta Give," which opened with $16.1 million in 2003, and her "The Holiday" which debuted at $12.8 million in 2006.

In third place was Fox's "Maze Runner: Scorch Trials" with 14.37 million for a two-week total of $51.96 million. It was followed by Universal's "Everest" with $13.24 million for a two-week total of $23.28 million.

The rest stacked up this way:

5. "Black Mass" (Warner Bros.) $11.03 million for a two-week total of $42.13 million.

6. "The Visit" (Universal) $6.67 million for a three-week total of $52.18 million

7. "The Perfect Guy" (Sony) $4.77 million for a three-week total of $48.89 million

8. "War Room" (Tristar) $4.24 million for a five-week total of $55.97 million

9. "The Green Inferno" (Hightop) $3.52 million on its opening weekend

10. "Sicario" (Lionsgate) $1.71 million for a two-week total of $2.30 million