Did you hear the cannon?
“The Hunger Games” — which has ruled the last four consecutive Friday box office battles — has finally been slain in battle.
Screen Gems’ “Think Like a Man” placed No. 1 on Friday. The romantic comedy topped expectations with $12.2 million, including a healthy $500,000 in Thursday midnight receipts. Expect the film to earn around $20 and $25 million for the weekend.
Based on Steve Harvey’s relationship advice book, “Man” stars Kevin Hart, Gabrielle Union, Romany Malco, Meagan Good and Michael Ealy.
It topped the Nicholas Sparks-derived Zac Efrom melodrama “The Lucky One,” which pulled in a strong $9.1 million on Friday. The Warner Bros. film should earn around $18 million for the three-day, which is a good number, but not as high as the last two Sparks adaptations, “Dear John” and “The Last Song.”
That leaves Lionsgate’s “Games” far behind at third with $4 million. But don’t feel too sorry for Katniss and the other tributes; the domestic cume for “Hunger Games” is now $346 million, while its worldwide gross stands at well over half a billion dollars.
Meanwhile, Disney’s newest documentary about the animal kingdom, “Chimpanzee,” opened at No. 4 with $3.5 million, while Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s horror headspin “Cabin in the Woods” closed out the top five with an estimated $2.4 million.
Next week sees the wide releases of “The Five-Year Engagement,” “The Raven,” “Safe” and “The Pirates! Band of Misfits.”
Look for updated weekend estimates Sunday on HitFix.