It’s starting to look like the RopeofSilicon Box-Office Oracle, Laremy Legel, made the right call with a weekend box-office that wasn’t too easy to predict. Variety has delivered official estimates, following my earlier report citing Nikki Finke’s early Friday estimates, which still show the new Jennifer Lopez romantic-comedy The Back-Up Plan edging out How To Train Your Dragon for the Friday win, though it will likely fall to #2 as Dragon will take the kid-friendly weekend dollars.
The Back-Up Plan took home an estimated $4.2 million Friday, which should translate to approximately $12 million while Dragon‘s $3.7 million should go up-up-up as the kids and their parents hit the multiplexes over the weekend. Should you doubt that assertion, certainly trends are trends for a reason. Last weekend Dragon earned $4.4 million on Friday to take in $15.2 million on Saturday and Sunday combined, making a $12 million Saturday and Sunday prediction this weekend sound about right.
Currently slotted in third is the weekend’s other competitor for the top spot, Warner’s new feature The Losers, though it appears to have excited audiences even less than last weekend’s comic adaptation, Kick-Ass. The Losers total hasn’t changed from Finke’s early estimate and still stands at $3.3 million for Friday and likely to take home approximately $9 million for the weekend. I wouldn’t be surprised if it manages $10 million, but it’s going to be a stretch and that also puts it into competition for that third slot with Fox’s Date Night in its third weekend after the Tina Fey and Steve Carell comedy also brought home an estimated $3.3 million on Friday.
So what about Kick-Ass? Last week’s #1 by the slimmest of margins. Well, it’s pulling up in fifth place, where it will most likely finish. It’s estimated at $2.9 million for Friday and what looks like an $8.5 million weekend, which would bring its two week cume to $33.8 million. The film has currently raked in $42.7 million worldwide on a reported budget of $30 million, though those numbers change depending on what stories you read. I expect the release of The Losers this weekend didn’t do the film any favors, neither did it’s R-rating. However, I expect it will do well on DVD and Blu-ray and the independently produced film should end up in the black once all things are said and done. But I’m not sure it sets a glowing precedent for producing your own obscure, R-rated comic book feature and hoping for big dollars, which is actually too bad.
The DisneyNature release of Oceans is currently in seventh with an estimated $2.1 million on Friday and an expected $6-7 million for the weekend.
The complete top ten is as follows, Laremy will be here Sunday morning with a complete wrap-up.
- The Back-Up Plan – $4.2 million
- How to Train Your Dragon – $3.7 million
- The Losers – $3.3 million
- Date Night – $3.2 million
- Kick-Ass – $2.9 million
- Death at a Funeral – $2.4 million
- Clash of the Titans – $2.3 million
- Oceans – $2.1 million
- The Last Song – $1.2 million
- Alice In Wonderland – $596,000
