Ben Affleck's 'Argo' Scores Top Spot At Box Office With $12.4 Million

Tom Hanks Can't Help 'Cloud Atlas'

As the box office goes, so does Argo. Ben Affleck's fake-flick thriller stunned analysts by taking the top sales spot in its third weekend in theaters, easily surpassing Cloud Atlas, which opened with a thud.

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Argo, the critically lauded thriller about a fake film production covering for a hostage rescue mission, continued to ride positive reviews as it grossed $12.4 million this weekend. That gives it a total of $60.8 million in three weeks.

Second place went to Hotel Transylvania, with $9.5 million. The animated Halloween movie, featuring the voices of celebrities like Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez and Cee Lo Green, is now Sony Animations highest grossing film ever with a total of over $130 million.

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Cloud Atlas, from Matrix creators Lana and Andy Wachowski, opened in a very disappointing third place after earning just $9.4 million. Not even A-list stars Tom Hanks and Halle Berry could help the fantasy film into a better draw.

And Cloud Atlas has A LOT of ground to make up -- at a cost of $102 million, it's one of the most expensive independent movies ever made.

Rounding out the top five at the box office was Paranormal Activity with $8.7 million, followed by Liam Neeson and Taken 2 with $8 million.

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