Friday night’s box office went to some dark places as the Vin Diesel sci-fi sequel “Riddick” fought its way to the No. 1 spot with a $7.3 million opening.
After regaining the top spot last week, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” will finish in second this weekend. The historical drama starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey earned another $2.3 million, bringing its dometic total to a handsome $85.3 million.
“Riddick” will easily win the weekend, likely picking up around $20 million for the three-day frame. It reportedly cost just $38 million to produce and should recoup that amount in no time.
In comparison, the film’s 2004 predecessor “The Chronicles of Riddick” cost around $100 million and earned $24 million in its opening frame on its way to a domestic gross of just $57 million. The new film should have no trouble topping that figure in the coming weeks.
Warner Bros.’ broad comedy “We’re the Millers” is on its way to becoming one of the most successful original comedies of the year. The film, starring Jason Sudekis and Jennifer Aniston, laughed its way to $2.3 million on Friday, good for third place. After a month in theaters, “Millers” has smuggled in over $118 million.
The micro-budgeted Spanish language film “Instructions Not Included” is a surprise hit, and came in at No. 4 on Friday, despite playing on just 717 screens nationwide. It expanded on Friday, picking up $1.6 million. Its domestic total stands at $13.8 million.
Rounding out the top five was the music doc “One Direction: This Is Us,” which drummed up $1.1 million, bringing its North American total to $21 million.
Look for continuing box office updates all weekend long on HitFix.