Overall box office will continue to be up from last year...
As what many people (including myself) expected, Chronicle and The Woman in Black are in a battle for first place. The sci-fi teenage superhero flick earned an estimated $8.8 million on Friday, while the period horror film snagged an estimated $8.3 million. Right now, its' anyone's guess who will win the weekend, but both were given mixed audience reception, with Chronicle recieving a "B" CinemaScore, while Woman earned a "B-". The Super Bowl will certainly cut in to their opening weekend potential, but they both are headed for openings north of $20 million. Woman will make some serious ground up on Sunday, as its' appeal to women (research shows 55% of the audience is female) will help it hold better than Chronicle on Sunday. Right now though, I think both will duke it out when studio estimates are posted with around $20.5 million each.
Third place went to holdover The Grey, which dropped 53% to an estimated $3.1 million, which was expected since there is more competition. Look for the Liam Neeson thriller to pick up $10 million for its' second weekend.
The other new release didn't quite strike a high note. Family drama Big Miracle debuted in fourth place with an estimated $2.3 million, or just under half of Dolphin Tale's opening day, but that was released in more theaters and had 3-D. Audiences were mostly positive with an "A-" CinemaScore grade, which could result in a good hold on Super Bowl sunday as women and children will be looking for something to see while their husbands/dads stay home watching the game. Based on recent trajectories of warmly-recieved family flicks, the animal-rescue adventure looks posititoned for a $8.5 million weekend, in line with expectations.
Rounding out the Top 5 is One for the Money, which didn't hold well like some people were hoping for, plunging 58% to an estimated $1.7 million in its' second Friday. It will likely take advantage of females on Super Bowl Sunday, which should propel it to a weekend of $5.5 million.
Official studio weekend estimates will be reported tomorrow afternoon...
