Overall box office is set to soar to near record heights....
Fast and Furious 6 is turning into one heck of a blockbuster, posting the second-biggest Friday gross of the year so far. The sixth installment in the widely-loved trilogy earned a huge estimated $38.2 million on Friday (including $6.5 million from Thursday evening and midnight shows), a few million up from Fast Five's $33.9 million opening Friday, which would go on to gross $86 million for the weekend. With an extra day added, Six will do more than $90 million over the three-day portion, in fact, don't be surprised if its' strong "A" CinemaScore and positive word-of-mouth cause it to pass the century mark by Sunday. Right now, I think it may fall just shy of the century mark for the three-day period, with $97 million for that period. The four-day total should then add up to about $115 million, the fourth-biggest Memorial Day opening ever.
Following its' mediocre performance on Thursday and Wednesday night, The Hangover - Part III couldn't hop out of the hole the predecessor made for it. The final installment in Todd Phillip's crassy trilogy managed an estimated $14.5 million on Thursday, for a $26.3 million gross in 2 days, or less than Part II's $29.6 million Friday (single day) gross), and less than half of that movie's $61.2 million 2-day pick-up. With the worst reviews ever for the franchise plus a mixed "B" CinemaScore (the others had "A" and "A-"), I think the three-day weekend will top out at $42 million, the same as the first Hangover. The 4-day frame will likely add up to $52 million, for a $64 million total since Thursday, or about one-half of Part II's jaw-dropping $135 million 5-day start.
Surprisingly, with all the competition, Star Trek into Darkness managed to hold its' own on Friday, off 53% to an estimated $10.2 million. Look for a $38 million 3-day and $47 million 4-day gross for the well-received sequel, making a less-than-50% drop for the weekend. It appears that into Darkness is making up lost ground due to good word-of-mouth, something we'll have to keep an eye on over the next few weeks.
The final new release chugged into fourth place with better-than-expected results. Though downgraded a bit from early tracking estimates last night, Blue Sky Studios' Epic managed a solid Friday showing, an estimated $9.4 million. Receiving good reviews and a "A" CinemaScore, the films' Friday start was altogether in line with their last original effort, Rio, which opened to roughly $10 million on its' way to a $39 million weekend. Epic should come close to that, and is looking to match or slightly exceed my expectations for the film (from my predictions post on Wednesday). With $35 million for the three-day weekend and $45 million for the four-day frame, its' outpacing other analysts' expectations greatly, who had expected it to fall flat in the face of live-action blockbusters, and gross about $30-$35 million over the extended period.
The other May tentpoles continued to play well. Iron Man 3 was off 47% to an estimated $5.2 million, in what should be a four-day pick-up near $25 million, with the movie likely to reach an incredible $375 million by Monday. The Great Gatsby was also off 47% to an estimated $4 million, on its' way to an extended weekend gross in the high-teens millions. Just yesterday, Gatsby became the years' 7th title to reach the century mark (Star Trek into Darkness was 6th, reaching the milestone earlier that day).
Look out for weekend estimates tomorrow afternoon, with four-day estimates Monday afternoon, and actuals on Tuesday...
