Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills once again proved that he is not to be messed with this weekend at the US box office, as Taken 2 put a throttle hold on the top spot and refused to let go.

Neeson’s sequel squeezed $22.5 million out of American cinemagoers, which meant that Ben Affleck’s latest directing / starring gig, Argo, had to settle for second. Still, healthy word of mouth and even Oscar talk meant that Affleck’s drama made $20.1 million. Third place went to found footage horror Sinister, which started Halloween early with $18.2 million.

Real terror shoved cartoon beasts down a couple of places, as Hotel Transylvania fell to fourth with $17.3 million. But we’re left with the odd result that ‘toon Kevin James (he’s Frankie in the film) beat the real Kevin James, as his latest Sandler-produced effort, MMA comedy Here Comes The Boom, could only manage a fifth-place launch and $12 million.

Surprisingly smart a capella comedy Pitch Perfect slipped to sixth with $9.3 million, while Frankenweenie was seventh with $7 million. At eighth we find Looper, which took in $6.3 million (wonder if Rian Johnson gets some of that paid in silver bars?) and Seven Psychopaths had a slightly disappointing kick-off in ninth with $4.2 million. Finally at 10th we find The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, which snuck into the top 10 thanks to expanding its screen count, earning $2.1 million for $6.1 million to date.

To drive a taxi through the charts and save American embassy workers, head to Box Office Mojo.