Box office is on pace to well outpace last year's same weekend....
I had mentioned opening a horror flick on Friday the 13th would be huge, and I was right. But I didn't see Insidious - Chapter Two earn an estimated $20.1 million on Friday, at that point, I'm like, "WHAT?!". But the huge buzz proved true here, as the sequel's opening day was higher than the first Insidious' opening weekend, which proves the first one truly has developed a strong fanbase. Look for the film to easily win the weekend with $42 million, with a shot at claiming the September opening weekend record from last year's Hotel Transylvania.
Crime thriller The Family debuted in second with better-than-expected numbers, tallying an estimated $5.4 million. A good marketing effort plus good starpower helped make this number happen. Reviews were bad, but we have to remember that expectations were for this to earn just around $10 million for the frame, so this is a good start by all means. A $15 million weekend is likely.
Last week's topper, Riddick, fell 70% to an estimated $2.2 million on Friday, in what will be a $7 million second weekend. Rounding out the Top 5 were August holdovers We're The Millers and Lee Daniels' The Butler, which fell 24% and 30% to estimates of $1.7 million each. Both films should earn roughly $6 million apiece this weekend. Most other holdovers had small declines.
Weekend report coming tomorrow...
