Well-reviewed and well-promoted, horror film “The Conjuring” is pacing to land at the high end of box office estimates.
Update:
Friday returns were as follows:
“The Conjuring” – $17.0M
“Despicable Me 2” – $7.5M
“Turbo” – $6.5M
“Grown Ups 2” – $6.4M
“Red 2” – $6.3M
“RIPD” – $4.8M
According to Variety, early Friday data suggests the film, which maintains an impressive 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, is on track to earn about $32 million this weekend. Representing the best tally of the four new wide releases, it should certainly be enough to secure a number one debut.
Among new releases, “Turbo” is expected to land in the next position. But the film’s estimated $23 million weekend take is hardly worthy of celebration.
“Red 2,” the weakly-reviewed sequel to the 2010 sleeper hit, should land in the ballpark of the original with $20 million. Insofar as sequels often do not possess the same legs as their predecessors (especially in cases like this, when reviews are poor), it nonetheless seems highly unlikely that “Red 2” will match the $90.4 million cumulative gross of “Red.”
In box office flop news, “RIPD,” the critically-panned Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds flick, will be lucky to cross the $10 million barrier.