Friday’s box office data essentially took weekend expectations and amplified them, with “Toy Story 3” performing even more dominantly than some guessed and “Jonah Hex” giving a much harsher definition to the term “bomb” than some predicted.
“Toy Story 3” earned $41 million Friday, which gives it the opportunity to reach $120 million for the weekend. Though no one doubted the long-anticipated, critically-beloved film’s ability to dominate the box office, a number of media outlets initially pondered whether “Story” could reach the $100 million mark in its first weekend. It now looks set to surpass that milestone with an eight-figure value to spare.
Though it is not a lock for the record, “Toy Story 3” is at least in play for a shot at the best opening weekend for an animated film in history, which currently belongs to “Shrek the Third” ($121.6 million).
“Jonah Hex,” meanwhile, gave no indication that it would open whatsoever, although there was at least faith from some the studio that it would flirt with a reduced expectation of $10 million. That is not going to happen, with the film reportedly only garnering $1.9 million for fifth place Friday.
Elsewhere, “The Karate Kid” landed in second with $8.9 million. Though the drop was sizable for a well-liked, family-skewing film, considering the competition from “Toy Story 3,” possibly testing $25-30 million for a second weekend is nothing at which to sneeze.
“The A-Team” landed in third with $4.2 million, topping the $2 million for fourth-place finisher “Get Him to the Greek.”