Monsters rule box office

Los Angeles - Hotel Transylvania, a family film about a luxury resort for monsters, scared off competitors at the weekend box office with a chart-topping $43m in US and Canadian ticket sales, setting a record for the biggest September opening ever.

The 3D-animated Hotel Transylvania features the voices of Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez in a story set at a hotel run by Dracula. As Frankenstein, the Invisible Man and other monsters gather for a party, a human boy stumbles on the resort and falls in love with Dracula's daughter.

In second place, new science fiction movie Looper took in $21.2m from Friday through Sunday, according to studio estimates. Last weekend's winner, police drama End of Watch, landed in third place with $8m.