Despite its glowing critical reviews and the debut of MMA fighter Gina Carano in a lead role, “Haywire” had simply failed to generate any notable pre-release buzz.
And when combined with the difficulty of opening against “Underworld: Awakening,” a brand name release with the more-popular Kate Beckinsale to fill the “sexy, ass-kicking, action female lead” role, “Haywire”‘s fortunes looked bleak going into the weekend.
Sure enough, the film garnered just $2.9 million in receipts Friday, which positions it for a sub-$10 million opening weekend at the low end of projections. “Underworld,” meanwhile, will easily win the weekend; it earned $9.4 million on Friday.
“Red Tails” followed “Underworld” with $6.0 million Friday, good enough to top the second Friday of “Contraband” ($3.2 million) and the expansion of “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” ($3.2 million).
