"Prisoners" is off to a great start!

The child abduction drama thriller starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal debuted at No. 1 with $21.4 million.  Quite a feat for an R-rated movie that's nearly 2 1/2 hours long!  It's a brilliant film, and director Denis Villeneuve ("Incendies") definitely created one of the best movies this year!  (check out my "Prisoners" review below)

"Prisoners" is the first of the adult-drama fare this Oscar season to debut at the top.  

Two other films, out for Oscar gold, made their own box-office gold.  Ron Howard's "Rush" opened in five theaters with a $40,000 per-screen average while the romantic comedy "Enough Said", featuring James Gandolfini's final leading man performance, opened in four theaters with a $60,000 per screen average.  Both movies will expand this Friday.  

Both "Prisoners" and "Rush" received the Critics' Choice seal of approval from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, of which I'm a proud member!

Previous weekend's box-office champ, "Insidious: Chapter 2," fell to No. 2 with $14.5 million.  The scary sequel from director James Wan and starring Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne has made $60.9 million in just two weeks!

Meanwhile, the dance flick "Battle of the Year" flopped!  The film proved that it has two left feet at the box-office, taking in only $5 million bucks.  

Here's the estimated Top 10 box-office films for the weekend of Sept. 20:

1. "Prisoners," $21.4 million ($500,000 international).

2. "Insidious: Chapter 2," $14.5 million ($3.5 million international).

3. "The Family," $7 million ($1.5 million international).

4. "Instructions Not Included," $5.7 million ($9.6 million international).

5. "Battle of the Year," $5 million.

6. "We're the Millers," $4.7 million ($9.6 million international).

7. "Lee Daniels' the Butler," $4.3 million ($2.2 million international).

8. "Riddick," $3.7 million ($9.4 million).

9. "Wizard of Oz," $3 million.

10. "Planes," $2.9 million ($7 million international).

Here's my "Prisoners" movie review: