Screams will reign supreme at the box office this weekend after “Insidious Chapter 2” scored a shocking $20 million opening day on Friday.
Meanwhile, “The Family” settled in for second place, followed by holdovers “Riddick,” “We’re the Millers,” and “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”
“Insidious 2” — budgeted at just $5 million — will likely scare up over $40 million for the three-day. It has a strong chance of becoming the biggest September opener of all time, as Sony’s animated “Hotel Transylvania” picked up $42.5 million in 2012.
The horror sequel will easily speed past the original’s box office take; 2011’s “Insidious” debuted to $13.3 million and ended with a $54 million domestic haul.
“Insidious 2” also has a good chance of topping the $41.9 million opening weekend of New Line’s “The Conjuring” — which was also directed by Wan and starred Patrick Wilson. — early this summer.
In distant second place, Luc Besson’s mob comedy “The Family,” starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro earned $5.4 million. Look for it to pick up around $15 million for the weekend, an OK but unimpressive amount for the film which cost a reported $30 to produce.
Last week’s box office champ, Vin Diesel’s sci-fi sequel “Riddick,” tumbled to third place on Friday, walking away with $2.2 million. The film has so far earned $26.4 million domestically.
The Jennifer Aniston-Jason Sudeikis comedy “We’re the Millers” continues its impressive streak, staying in the top five after more than a month of release. “Millers” earned another $1.7 million on Friday, bringing its domestic total to a huge $127.9 million.
Finally, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” rounded out the top five on Friday, after earning $1.6 million. The acclaimed historical drama stands at $96.1 million and will have no trouble crossing that magic $100 mark over the next few days.
Look for continuing box office updates all weekend long on HitFix.