Pixar’s streak of box office dominance will remain intact, as its new release “Brave” is en route to a massive box office victory after a strong Friday bow.
“Brave” overperformed with $24.5 million Friday, and given the tendency of family films to perform well in Saturday matinees, the new release should easily be on pace for at least $70 million for the weekend.
That total, if realized, would top projections by a solid $10-15 million and represent a rare pleasant surprise for the 2012 summer box office.
And though it was not exceptionally reviewed by Pixar standards with only a 74% on RT, it received the expected A Cinema Score and should benefit in the coming weeks from solid word of mouth.
Not so lucky was “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” which only attracted $6.3 million. Though generally on pace with forecasts, that total is a far cry from what was likely expected when plans for the film first materialized.
“Lincoln” placed second on Friday, but “Madagascar 3,” which earned $6.1 million for third, has a decent chance of moving to number two by the end of the weekend.
Worse than the “Lincoln” performance, however, was the disastrous showing for new Steve Carell vehicle “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.” The alternative summer fare was never going to set the box office on fire, but expectations called for a respectable $7-8 million for the weekend.
That now seems unattainable–the film grossed just $1.3 million for tenth place Friday and will probably fail to grab even $5 million for the weekend.
