NEW YORK — The more adult-oriented fall moviegoing season got off to a strong start over the weekend, as the Hugh Jackman kidnapping drama “Prisoners” opened with a box office-leading $21.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Warner Bros. thriller, which also stars Jake Gyllenhaal, is among the first fall films with Oscar aspirations to open in theaters. It was a strong debut for a serious, R-rated drama that cost about $46 million to make.

Following the robust business for “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” the large audiences turning out for adult fare bodes well for Hollywood’s coming awards season.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the nearly 2½ hourlong “Prisoners” is about the working-class families of two young girls who are abducted. In a story heavy with allegory, Jackman plays a father willing to cross moral lines for justice. Gyllenhaal stars as the small-town police detective trying to navigate the case.

1. “Prisoners,” $21.4 million ($500,000 international).

2. “Insidious: Chapter 2,” $14.5 million ($3.5 million international).

3. “The Family,” $7 million ($1.5 million international).

4. “Instructions Not Included,” $5.7 million ($9.6 million international).

5. “Battle of the Year,” $5 million.

6. “We’re the Millers,” $4.7 million ($9.6 million international).

7. “Lee Daniels’ the Butler,” $4.3 million ($2.2 million international).

8. “Riddick,” $3.7 million ($9.4 million).

9. “Wizard of Oz,” $3 million.

10. “Planes,” $2.9 million ($7 million international).