Call him 'Huge' Jackman at the box office

Whether slashing comic book foes, stealing a crust of bread or tracking down his daughter’s kidnapper, Hugh Jackman can certainly open a picture.

“Prisoners,” a dark thriller starring Jackman as a father on a desperate search for his missing daughter, arrested filmgoers all weekend and locked up the top box office slot with $21.4 million in ticket during its first three days in theaters.

The Warner Bros. thriller tells the story of the search for two young girls who are kidnapped on Thanksgiving Day. One of their fathers, a Pennsylvania survivalist played by the famed “Wolverine” and “Les Miserables” star grows frustrated with the police investigation and employs his own methods to find out what happened.

“Prisoners” is now poised to be a big hit for Warner Bros., which spent just $30 million to make the film, which co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal. It’s the first film of the fall with Oscar aspirations.

Last weekend’s box office leader, the low-budget horror flick “Insidious: Chapter 2,” dropped to second place with $14.5 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

It has now made nearly $61 million in two weeks.

The top five was rounded out by “The Family,” which made $7 million; “Instructions Not Included,” the Spanish language comedy that keeps making money, with $5.7 million; and the Chris Brown-Josh Holloway dance picture, “Battle of the Year,” which opened with a disappointing $5 million.