The extended 4-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend has started off strong with Mark Wahlberg’s crime-thriller Contraband (Universal) winning Friday with an estimated $8.7 million in 2,863 theaters, besting Disney’s rerelease Beauty and the Beast 3D, which took in $5.6 million in 2,625 theaters. While the latter should gain some ground over the weekend with many schools out on Monday, Contraband should still come out on top with roughly $29 million while Beauty and the Beast should end up somewhere between $25 and 27 million.
The Queen Latifah-Dolly Parton musical mash-up Joyful Noise took third place with $3.3 million, but it has Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol nipping at its heels for third place over the weekend with both of them expected to be in the $13 to 14 million range.
Paramount’s The Devil Inside took a massive tumble from its enormous opening weekend, making just $2.7 million on Friday, down 84% from its opening day last week.
Check back on Monday for the full box office report to see how the new and returning movies fared.
