Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) in "Taken 2" embracing his top spot.

16 Oct – Once again, "Taken 2" dominated at the box office over the weekend (11 – 14 Oct) in spite of new releases like Ben Affleck's critically lauded "Argo" and the Ethan Hawke-starrer "Sinister". However, the total gross for Olivier Megaton's action thriller only rose to US$86.1 million, which is a steep fall compared to the original "Taken". In contrast, "Argo" scored higher ratings than "Taken 2", but debuted in second place. Director/star Ben Affleck's thriller film is based loosely on Tony Mendez's account of the historical rescue of six U.S. diplomats from Tehran, Iran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, which involved creating a cover story that the hostages are Canadian filmmakers scouting "exotic" locations in Iran for a science fiction-fantasy film titled "Argo". In third place is "Sinister", a supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson. It follows true-crime writer Ellison (Ethan Hawke), who moves his family to a new home in order to research the previous families' murders, all of which happened in the house. He soon discovers a box of home movies, all depicting families murdered in various ways and the presence of a demonic figure that now begins to haunt him.

In Malaysia, "Taken 2" repeated top spot as well, while K. V. Anand's Tamil film "Maattrraan" debuted in second place. The film has popular Tamil actor Suriya stars in the action thriller as conjoined twins caught in the middle of a conspiracy in their father's company. Rounding up the top three is the local film "Aku Terima Nikahnya", which is based on the bestselling novel of the same name that is in turn a reverse version of Michael Sucsy's "The Vow". Eyra Rahman directs the romantic drama film with Adi Putra and Nora Danish starring in the leads as a husband and wife respectively. The couple's blissful life is shattered when Johan (Adi) is involved in a car accident, leading him to have Selective Amnesia. Despite her husband not knowing who she is and her ties to him, Arlisa (Nora) remains by his side and cares for him, hoping to remind him of the bond they once shared.

(From left) Nora Danish and Adi Putra play a husband and wife in "Aku Terima Nikahnya".

In Singapore, "Taken 2" also took the top spot. After its early release in Malaysia, Singaporeans finally get to watch Rian Johnson's "Looper", which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis as Young Joe and Old Joe respectively. In "Looper", time travel is invented by the year 2074 and, though immediately outlawed, is used by criminal organizations to send those they want killed into the past where they are killed by "loopers", assassins paid with silver bars strapped to their targets, in order to dispose of the bodies in the future. Joe, a looper, soon has to kill his older self, but when Old Joe escapes, Young Joe is forced to hunt him down to save himself from being killed in the present. Unlike the time travel film, "Sinister" opened earlier in Singapore, to third place.

For Malaysia, new movies that opened last week were "The Gangster - Antapal", "Stolen", "The Thieves", "Boy Wonder", "Cinta Beruang", "Love Is... Pyjamas", "Nenek Gayung", "Bhoot Returns", "Aiyyaa" and "House At The End Of The Street".

For Singapore, new movies that opened last week were "Dangerous Liaisons", "The Bullet Vanishes", "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower", "Jan Dara", "OMG - Oh My God!", "Maattrraan" and "Aiyyaa".