Box office: ‘After Earth’ opens behind ‘Now You See Me’ and ‘Fast & Furious 6’

The new sci-fi film “After Earth” has crashed and burned at the box office on opening day.

The film, which was directed by M. NIght Shyamalan (“The Happening,” “The Last Airbender”) and stars Will Smith and son Jaden, came in third place on Friday night, behind holdover “Fast & Furious 6” and newcomer “Now You See Me.”

“Furious” — staring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson — raced to $10.5 million, speedily bringing its domestic total to a huge $146 million. 

The magical caper film “See Me,” powered by a name cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo and Morgan Freeman, overperformed on Friday, conjuring $10 million on 2,925 screens.

The critically-panned “Earth” opened on more screens than “See Me” (3,400), but was only able to muster $9.8 million in the crowded frame.

The two new films will likely be neck-and-neck all weekend, with both films expected to earned around $27 million. This is a much lower number than Sony was hoping for for “After Earth,” but the studio may be able to make up for it overseas. 

Meanwhile, comedy holdover “The Hangover Part III” came in fourth place, racking up another $5.2 million. It’s domestic total is a respectable $77 million, but it likely won’t even come close to the $277 million reached by its predecessor. 

Likewise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” which came in fifth on Friday with $4.4 million, is unlikely to match 2009’s “Star Trek” at the domestic box office. The original earned a total of $257.7 million, while the sequel currently stands at $169.2 million. 

Look for complete weekend estimates tomorrow on HitFix.

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