Friday Box Office: SuperBad On Track To $30 Million Weekend

 

2007 is the summer of Judd Apatow and Seth Rogan. They teamed on KNOCKED UP (Universal), which has grossed nearly $150M since opening back on June 1. Now they have struck again with SUPERBAD (Sony). With a script by Rogen and Apatow producing, the long anticipated, foul-mouthed yet smart, comedy has grabbed a spectacular $11.1M on its opening day, and that should translate to an estimated $30.3M for the 3-day weekend.

As expected, RUSH HOUR 3 (New Line) will drop 60%+ for the weekend. After an estimated $6.3M on Friday, the Tucker/Chan/Ratner action-comedy should still manage to reach $18.5M on weekend #2. Meanwhile, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (Universal) is holding decently with $5.2M Friday and an anticipated $16.2M weekend.

The stunner of the weekend is that THE INVASION (Warner Bros), the troubled 4th version of the 1950's novel THE BODY SNATCHERS, is performing far worse than anyone could have expected. The tracking services gave it a fighting shot at cracking $10M for the weekend, but moviegoers have soundly rejected Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Joel Silver. THE INVASION managed only $2M on Friday, and it is headed for just a $5.7M weekend, which will likely put it at #5 behind THE SIMPSONS MOVIE (Fox) with an estimated $5.8M.

The other wide release is the misguided MGM/Weinstein historical epic THE LAST LEGION. With a cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins, Colin Firth and Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai, the film may sell tickets abroad, but it generated only $800,000 on its opening day in the US, and it will finish the weekend with just $2.4M by Monday morning. MGM, on the other hand, opened Frank Oz's US Comedy Arts Festival winner DEATH AT A FUNERAL on 260 screens, and scored a modest hit. The dark comedy earned $350,000 on Friday, and it's headed for a $1.1M weekend, a $4,230 PTA.

Leonardo DiCaprio's THE 11TH HOUR (Warner Independent), a global warming documentary, is off to a blazing start with $28,280 on just 4 screens for a $7,000+ per theatre average.  With strong reviews and considerable buzz, it will likely to cruise to just under $100,000 for the weekend and a $25,000 or so PTA. That's far short of Al Gore's AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, which also opened on 4 screens back in May of last year. That Oscar winning doc grabbed a monstrous $82,000 on its opening day and $285,000 In its opening 3-day weekend. Still, the DiCaprio picture is likely to become a very strong arthouse staple over the next couple of months.

Among other specialty titles, Slowhand Releasing made a strong debut with its doc about the mean streets of Brazil, MANDA BALA: SEND A BULLET. Opening on a single screen, the Jason Kohn-directed film delivered $5,356. It should finish with an estimated PTA of $16,000 or so, trailing only THE 11TH HOUR and SUPERBAD. Seth Gordon's documentary about classic video arcade games, THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFULL OF QUARTERS (Picturehouse) is also off to a strong start at 5 locations with an estimated $3,400 per on Friday. This niche documentary will likely reach $40,000 for the weekend or about $8,000 per theatre. Meanwhile. Tom DiCillo's DELIRIOUS (Peace Arch Entertainment), which opened on 2 screens Wednesday, added 3 more on Friday. The offbeat show business drama starring Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt managed only $4,961 for the day, which translates to just under $1,000 per screen.

ARCTIC TALE (Paramount Vantage) added 203 screens, and audiences are continuing to give this nature doc narrated by Queen Latifah the cold shoulder. Its estimated $50,000 Friday take amounts to a mere $220 per

screen. It'll limp to just $220,000 or so for the 3-day, and Vantage may be forced to reconsider any further expansion. Julie Delpy's 2 DAYS IN PARIS (IDP Films) continues decently on 20 screens with a Friday PTA of about $1,500. It'll likely grab just over $100,000 by Monday morning. Also, ROCKET SCIENCE (Picturehouse) expanded to 40 screens, however the Sundance winner only scored $23,000 or an estimated $577 per screen.

You can find Friday's Top 20 Movies plus key specialty films along with early 3-day estimates on FantasyMoguls.