After an animation dry spell that left Disney’s Planes the only feature flying for nearly two months, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 lifted-off on Friday. The sequel to 2009’s 3D hit earned an estimated $9.3 million from 4,002 locations, which means that a new September record is probably not on the menu for the Sony release. At this time last year, Hotel Transylvania banked $10.9 million on its way to that record-setting $42.5 million first weekend. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 seems destined for about $37 million by Sunday – short of a record but well ahead of the $30.3 million debut of the first Cloudy.

After a good start in just five locations last weekend, Ron Howard’s Rush expanded its run on Friday. From 2,297 locations, the racing drama earned an estimated $3.7 million for second place. The frame’s remaining new releases ran about even on Friday: R-rated comedy Don Jon (directed by and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt) took in $3.27 million from 2,422 locations while romantic comedy Baggage Claim booked $3.29 from 2,027 runs. Check back tomorrow for full details.

   Title

Friday

Total

1.

   Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

$9,300,000

$9.3

2.

   Rush

$3,700,000

$3.96

3.

   Prisoners

$3,380,000

$31

4.

   Baggage Claim

$3,290,000

$3.29

5.

   Don Jon

$3,275,000

$3.27