“After Earth,” last week’s high-profile debut, flopped at the box office, falling short of already-underwhelming expectations.
The same scenario will not victimize new releases “The Purge” and “The Internship,” both of which are pacing to crush industry projections.
“The Purge” has proven red-hot Friday, and Deadline’s estimates say the film will make at least $16 million Friday (including $3.4 million from midnight showings) en route to an impressive mid-$30 million weekend debut.
Not even revised box office tracking data, which would have accounted for late interest in “The Purge,” anticipated a bow higher than $25 million.
It won’t even flirt with the overall gross for 2005 Vince Vaughn-Owen Wilson pairing “Wedding Crashers,” but “The Internship” will still exceed curiously low tracking. On track to earn $9 million Friday, the film should easily push into the low-to-mid $20 million territory for the full weekend. Most tracking was for a bow in the mid-to-high teens.
Of note is that neither film received good reviews.