‘The Martian’ continues to soar at the box office

The outer-space survival story “The Martian” topped the box office for the second week Friday as audiences turned out again to root for Matt Damon’s industrious astronaut stranded on Mars with his wits, a stream of existential questions and a bit of hope.

The 20th Century Fox film directed by Ridley Scott grossed nearly $10.8 million and has a 93% positive critical rating from Rotten Tomatoes. “The Martian” was followed by “Hotel Transylvania 2,” the sequel to the Adam Sandler-voiced vampire fantasy, which grossed $5.3 million for Columbia Pictures and is expected to post an overall income of $117.7 million by the end of the weekend.

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The biopic of Apple visionary Steve Jobs, directed by Danny Boyle and written by Aaron Sorkin, opened in New York and Los Angeles, grossing $175,000 ahead of its North American release on Oct. 16. Starring Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet, “Steve Jobs” picked up strong reviews for its depiction of the troubled genius who understood the sleek dimensions of our computer desires.

Film critic A.O. Scott of the New York Times wrote that the Universal Pictures film “is a rich and potent document of the times, an expression of both the awe that attends sophisticated new consumer goods and the unease that trails in the wake of their arrival.”

The Warner Bros.’ prequel to the Peter Pan story, “Pan” finished a disappointing third at the box office with an estimated gross of $5.2 million. The film cost $150 million to make and has attracted weak reviews, including a critics score of 22% and an audience reading of 51% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Rounding out the top five box office draws were Warner Bros.’ “The Intern,” starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway, which grossed about $2.7 million, and the critically acclaimed drug war saga “Sicario,” starring Josh Brolin, Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro, which brought in an estimated $2.26 million for Lionsgate.

Twitter: @JeffreyLAT