With an opening day gross that falls on the bottom half of his career list, Will Smith’s “Focus” will not receive raves for its box office performance.
It did, however, cruise to victory at the Friday box office.
The film earned $6.5 million in its first day of release. Enough to position “Focus” for a chart-topping, $20 million opening weekend, the Friday gross comfortably bested that of the runner-up.
“The Lazarus Effect,” that #2 film, earned $3.8 million in its first day of release.
Other top five films at Friday’s box office included “50 Shades of Grey” ($3.5 million), “Kingsman: The Secret Service” ($3.1 million) and “The DUFF” ($2.1 million).
If “Focus” indeed earns ~$20 million this weekend, it will place #13 or #14 on the list of Smith’s 19 starring live action vehicles (with wide releases). 1995’s “Bad Boys,” 2008’s “Seven Pounds,” 2001’s “Ali” (which opened on Christmas Tuesday), 1993’s “Made in America” and 2000’s “The Legend of Bagger Vance” are the only such vehicles that launched beneath the $20 million threshold.
