'Gran Torino' to Become Biggest Eastwood Flick Ever While 'Underworld' Likely Takes the Weekend

I didn’t necessarily like Gran Torino and as a result have received my fair share of email telling me how stupid I am as a result. However, that doesn’t mean I will fail to recognize the fact people seem to have an interest in what may end up being Clint Eastwood’s final screen performance as it is sure to become the actor’s biggest box-office success as an actor by the middle-end of next week.

Steve Mason brings us the early Friday box-office estimates from his new home at Breitbart’s Big Hollywood blog and while Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (my review) is set to take the weekend, Gran Torino is showing a meager 29% drop from last weekend and will likely end the weekend with a $97.1 million cume.

To date, as an actor, Eastwood’s largest box-office return was the 1993 political thriller In the Line of Fire earning $102 million, a number Torino will easily surpass despite not receiving a single Oscar nomination on Thursday even though many (including yours truly) predicted it would. Torino managed an estimated $4.2 million on Friday and Mason predicts it will hit $15.53 million for the weekend coming in third to Underworld and Paul Blart in its second weekend.

Underworld, the prequel story to the 2003 and 2006 vampire vs. werewolf films, opened to an estimated $7.6 million on Friday and is looking to make upwards of $19.7 million for the three-day weekend. Our very own Laremy Legel, a.k.a. the Box-Office Oracle, predicted it would hit $23.8 for the weekend but he too had it finishing first followed by Blart, Torino, newcomer Inkheart and Slumdog Millionaire, which received 10 Oscar nominations on Thursday including one for Best Picture.

Blart has proven to be a winning kid’s flick and earned an estimated $5.5 million on Friday and will end the weekend with over $60 million in its 10-day run. Inkheart, however, isn’t having as much luck as it opened to only $2.1 million on Friday earning it the eighth spot for the day, which is where it is likely to finish the weekend with only $7.5 million. It’s only fitting considering the movie isn’t that good and it appears fantasy films need a larger audience than an obscure bestseller that didn’t hit the mainstream can pull in.

Friday’s top five is rounded out by My Bloody Valentine 3-D ($2.9 million) and Notorious ($2.8 million), both in their second weekend and Mason predicts both will fall out of the top five by the end of the weekend as Hotel For Dogs and Slumdog Millionaire are likely to make better use of the weekend crowds.

One number Mason doesn’t have is how much The Dark Knight mustered as it saw a limited re-release in a reported total of 350 theaters domestically and a few more internationally. As of publishing the film remains at $997,035,412 worldwide and while I don’t think it will be able to hit the $1 billion mark now that it is on Blu-ray and DVD it will be interesting to see where it ends — especially if I am proven wrong.

Below are Mason’s early Friday estimates, stay tuned for Sunday when Laremy brings you the three-day totals.