Overall box office is set to be up from last year's bad weekend...
Opening on top, as expected, was franchise reboot The Bourne Legacy. The action pic starring Jeremy Renner (instead of Matt Damon) tallied a solid estimated $14 million on Friday, which is a nice start for a movie that had questionable expectations. Critical reception was mixed, while audiences gave it an OK "B" CinemaScore. For the weekend, this Bourne looks like it will wind up with $41 million.
In second place, The Campaign also impressed, with an estimated $10.2 million, and proving that Ted isn't the only one bringing in the crowds. Critical reception was positive, while a CinemaScore grade is currently unavailable. Expect the political comedy to finish out the weekend with $27 million.
It had to surrender the top spot, but The Dark Knight Rises did show some staying power, easing 45% from last Friday to an estimated $5.6 million, in what will likely be a $19 million fourth weekend.
The other new wide release, romantic comedy Hope Springs, also got off to a solid start. Starring Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones, it tallied an estimated $4.7 million on Friday after picking up $5.5 million on Wednesday and Thursday. With positive reception from critics, a $14 million weekend should be expected, bringing its' five-day launch total to close to $20 million.
Rounding out the Top 5 and jumping ahead of its' second-weekend competition, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days surprisingly held decently, down 51% to an estimated $2.8 million. Now that may not sound like much, but we need to remember that the other two Wimpy Kid movies dropped a lot harder. For the weekend, this Wimpy Kid will likely earn $9 million.
Weekend studio estimates to be released tomorrow afternoon (before the website is briefly taken off the web for remodeling)...
