‘Goosebumps’ spooks ‘Spies,’ ‘Crimson Peak’ at box office

That would place it ahead of The Martian.

Kicking off Halloween early, Sony’s family entry Goosebumpsis succeeding in scaring off the competition at the North American box office, winning Friday with an estimated $7.4 million from 3,501 theaters for a projected $25 million debut.

The film, rated PG and grabbing an A CinemaScore, cost $25 million to produce.

Universal’s Gothic romance “Crimson Peak” has launched to $855,000 at 2,178 US locations in Thursday previews, topping Sony’s horror-comedy “Goosebumps” with $600,000 at 2,567 sites. The Matt Damon vehicle took in an additional $6.3 million Friday toward an estimated $22-million weekend bounty, bringing its domestic total to an impressive $144 million. The period drama, starring Hanks as an attorney negotiating the release of a captured US pilot during the Cold War, has received stellar reviews with a 92% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Nabbing fifth may be Hotel Transylvania 2, if it rakes in box office receipts of $12.8 millon.

The R-rated film stars Mia Wasikowska as a young author and newlywed who soon discovers that her charming husband’s crumbling mansion is filled with menacing, other-worldly entities that her groom (Tom Hiddleston) and his sister (Jessica Chastain) try to hide. The animated film, starring Adam Sandler as the voice of Dracula, has earned $136.4 million domestically. Woodlawn, which stars Sean Astin and tells the true story of a 1970s high school football team dealing with racial tensions, earned an A+ CinemaScore.

Overseas, Crimson Peak opened to a muted $13.4 million from 55 markets for an early worldwide total of $26.2 million. Danny Boyle’s Jobs biopic, starring Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet, opened with the year’s best per-theater average last weekend, and it’ll go wide on October 23.

Lenny Abrahamson’s Room, adapted from Emma Donoghue’s bestselling novel, opened in four theaters, earning a solid $120,000 for a per-theater average of $30,000. The Sony Pictures Classics release opened to $76,646 from six locations in New York and Los Angeles for a theater average of $12,024. And after debuting on Netflix and in theaters on the same day, Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation made $50,699 in 31 theaters.