Box office: A holiday for 'Best Man'

Box office: A holiday for ‘Best Man’

1/5

From left, Taye Diggs as Harper, Morris Chestnut as Lance and Monica Calhoun as Mia in a scene from the film. (Michael Gibson / AP)

2/5

From left, Taye Diggs as Harper, Morris Chestnut as Lance, Harold Perrineau as Julian, and Terrence Howard as Quentin, serenade their ladies with some style. (Michael Gibson / AP)

3/5

Terrence Howard as Quentin, Nia Long as Jordan and Eddie Cibrian as Brian in a scene from the film. (Michael Gibson / AP)

4/5

Monica Calhoun as Mia, Melissa De Sousa as Shelby and Nia Long as Jordan enjoy a television show. (Michael Gibson / AP)

5/5

Morris Chestnut, right, as Lance, and Monica Calhoun as Mia attend a fancy dinner. (Michael Gibson / AP)

By Mikael Wood

Nov. 16, 2013 11:12 AM PT

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas -- at least for moviegoers, that is.

“The Best Man Holiday” unwrapped a No. 1 debut at the box office Friday night, narrowly edging out “Thor: The Dark World” for top honors heading into the weekend despite the fact the former film is playing on fewer than half the number of screens as the superhero flick.

According to estimates, director Malcolm D. Lee’s Christmas-themed sequel to 1999’s “The Best Man” earned $10.7 million on its first day in theaters, while “Thor” thundered up $10.4 million heading into its second weekend.

PHOTOS: Scenes from ‘The Best Man Holiday’

“Holiday” opened on 2,800 screens Friday, compared to the 9,700 showing “The Dark World.” That larger exposure is one reason “Thor” is expected to finish the weekend ahead of “Best Man.”

Elsewhere on Friday’s tally, “Last Vegas” -- with Robert DeNiro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline as a group of sixtysomething gents on the loose in Sin City -- came in at No. 3 with just over $2.5 million in ticket sales.

That was enough to beat “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa,” in which Johnny Knoxville pretends to be a sixtysomething gent. At No. 4, the prank film earned just over $2.3 million Friday, well ahead of the animated comedy “Free Birds,” which did $1.77 million of business to start the weekend in fifth place.

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Twitter: @mikaelwood