By Bill Wine

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The box office recovered strongly over the weekend, with two new titles leading the way.

The animated comedy, Hotel Transylvania, won the weekend by debuting with an estimated and impressive $43 million.

The runner-up was Looper, the new science fiction action thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis.  It took in a respectable $21 million.

The weekend’s two other new mainstream releases also finished in the top ten:

The musical comedy, Pitch Perfect, with Anna Kendrick, earned $6 million, good for sixth place.

And Won’t Back Down, the education-reform drama starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis, was tenth with a modest $3 million.

Overall, it was a strong September weekend, with industry totals 20 percent higher than those of a year ago.