Box office: ‘The Conjuring’ bound for No. 1; ‘R.I.P.D.’ lacks pulse

The horror film “The Conjuring” scared up big crowds going into the weekend, taking in an estimated $17 million dollars on Friday and tracking to unseat “Despicable Me 2” at the top of the box office.

Another debut, DreamWorks Animation’s “Turbo,” appears unable to best “Despicable Me 2” on the family-friendly front, earning an estimated $6.5 million on Friday. “Despicable Me 2” earned an estimated $7.5 million the same day, which puts it on track for second place with a total of more than $250 million in its third weekend of release.

True to early buzz, “R.I.P.D.” was a disappointment with just an estimated $4.8 million on Friday, which puts it on pace to debut outside of the top five. Starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds, the film has a lot of ground to cover to make up its $130-million production costs, which stands in stark contrast with “The Conjuring” and its $20-million price tag.

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Courting more mature moviegoers, the sequel “Red 2” earned an estimated $6.2 million on Friday and is on pace to round out the top five with with Adam Sandler’s comedy “Grown Ups 2,” which took in an estimated $6.4 million. Led by aging action stars Helen Mirren, Bruce Willis and John Malkovich, “Red 2” could come in with $18 million over the weekend, which would be a lower than the $21.8 million earned by its predecessor on its opening weekend in 2010.

Elsewhere on the underperforming would-be blockbuster front, Guillermo Del Toro’s “Pacific Rim” took in an estimated $4.7 million on Friday to drop from the top five in just its second weekend of release, and “The Lone Ranger” appears on its way to drifting out of the top 10 with an estimated $1.2 million.

ALSO:

‘The Conjuring’ to scare off pricey ‘R.I.P.D.’ at box office

‘The Conjuring’: Director James Wan channels real-life scares

DreamWorks Animation stock falls on ‘Turbo’ box office projections

Twitter: @chrisbarton