‘Ghostbusters’ scares up a win at Friday’s box office, but ‘Pets’ likely to top the weekend
For movie fans in search of a new action comedy on Friday, who did they call? “Ghostbusters.”
The Paul Feig-directed Sony/Columbia comedy reboot starring Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy scared up $17.2 million on Friday, on its way to an estimated $46.5 million U.S. box office in its opening weekend.
It’s the second-highest live-action, non-superhero film opening of 2016 so far (behind only “The Jungle Book”).That bests Sony’s lowball estimates of $38 million to $40 million while matching outside analysts’ take of $45 million to $50 million.
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It’s not blockbuster material yet – the film had a considerable $144-million budget – but early reviews match Feig’s previous hits “Bridesmaids” and “The Heat,” despite grumbling from certain fanboy quarters about casting choices.
However, the animated comedy hit “The Secret Life of Pets” looks likely to again be a guard-dog of the top spot for the rest of the weekend.
Estimates peg that film at $15 million for Friday and $50 million for the weekend, raising its 10-day take to a likely $202 million on Sunday.
Rounding out the Friday top five, Buena Vista’s “Finding Dory” made its way to third and an additional $3.3 million on Friday, bringing its total to a leviathan $437.8 million. Warner Bros’ “The Legend of Tarzan” swung in just behind, adding $3.8 million for a $95.2-million total. Fox’s “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” may have gotten brutal reviews, but slid up to the bar for another $2.4 million and a total of $26.2 million.
And perhaps as a bellwether for our current times, “The Purge: Election Year” continues to do well, adding about $2 million for a total gross of $66.9 million.
For other weekend debuts, Woody Allen’s vintage-L.A. comedy “Cafe Society” opened at a strong $114,500 on Friday, for a $65,000 per-theater average that should add up to a total take of $325,000 for the weekend in limited release. Also, “The Infiltrator” smuggled in about $1.5 million on Friday and is gunning for a weekend haul of around $4.8 to $5 million.
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