Rated R or not, people finally decided to go see a good movie as what should have happened with the battle of The Kingdom and The Game Plan, American Gangster has taken the top spot at the box-office as Friday estimates show it taking it $7.2 million as it shows on 3,059 screens. However, this is not the big story of the day. Bee Movie has actually not dropped off as much as expected. Bad reviews “bee” damned as the little animated feature is now estimated to bring in $25.7 million after taking in $6.2 million on Friday. This pretty much proves that you don’t have to make a good movie to make money, you just have to make a kid flick, because Bee Movie is terrible.
The big question is whether or not the kiddies will support Bee Movie more over the weekend, or if enough adults will turn out to give American Gangster it’s second winning weekend in a row.
Taking it in the ass, and rightfully so, is the Warner Bros. release Fred Claus. The new Christmas flick that was oddly released two weeks before Thanksgiving is expected to bring in around $20.5 million after its $5.2 million Friday opening. Following up Fred the political war drama Lions for Lambs, which given the current environment it is no surprise that it only managed $2.1 million on Friday and is trending toward a $7.2 million weekend.
The other new releases include the late-to-the-game thriller P2, which managed only $660k on Friday and then the great Coen brothers flick No Country for Old Men bringing in $350k as it played on only 28 screens in its limited theatrical rollout.
To check out the complete Friday estimates click here for Box-Office Mojo’s results. You can also check out Fantasy Mogul’s 3-day estimates right here.
