Hotel Transylvania 2 haunts top of N. America box office

The animated creatures from “Hotel Transylvania 2” scared up $48.5 million in their introduction weekend, landing a strong lead at the top of the North American box office, business data showed Monday.

The allstar sequel, featuring the voices of Andy Samberg, Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez, amongst others, follows his ghoulish buddies and Dracula as they try to bring out the monster side of the count’s half-human grandson.

Landing in distant second was “The Intern,” starring Robert De Niro as 70-year old widower Ben, who goes to work in a style site, whose creator is played by Anne Hathaway. It brought in $17.7 million in its first weekend outside.

Those pictures edged “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” into third place after debuting on top of the box office last week, based on box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

The film, the second in the chain of “Maze Runner” movies according to popular young adult science fiction novels, brought in $14.3 million.

Meanwhile “Black Mass,” a biopic about Irish American mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, landed in fifth spot with $11.0 million.

Falling to sixth was “The Visit,” M. Night Shyamalan’s low budget thriller about a visit to grandmother’s house gone awry, with $6.7 million.

“The Perfect Guy,” about a girl’s tryst using a guy who isn’t what he appears, brought in $4.8 million, finishing in seventh.

And “War Room,” which centers on a fighting couple who locates help through prayer, brought in some $4.2 million, landing in eighth.