“Kick-Ass 2” is getting served by “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” at the box office this weekend.
The Weinstein Company’s historical drama starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey earned $8.2 million on Friday, placing it ahead of the Universal superhero sequel, and leaving fellow newcomers “Jobs” and “Paranoia” in the dust.
“Butler” is expected to earn a strong $24 million for the weekend, while “Kick-Ass” — which picked up just $5.8 million on Friday — is looking at an approximate three-day take of $15 million. It’s an OK start for the film, which Universal secured the U.S. distribution rights to for $10 million.
The original film, which was distributed by Lionsgate, debuted to a more robust $19.8 million three years ago.
“Kick-Ass 2” stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Jim Carrey.
Comedy holdover “We’re the Millers” earned another $5.4 million on Friday, good for third place. Its domestic gross so far is $57.1 million, and there’s a strong chance that it could eke out “Kick-Ass” for the No. 2 spot behind “The Butler.”
In fourth place, the Matt Damon sci-fi film “Elysium” brought in $3.9 million, bringing its total to $46.2 million.
Rounding out the top five was Disney’s “Planes,” which flew to $3.6 million. With numerous other family-friendly films overshadowing it, “Planes” has made a decent $35.5 million to date.
Meanwhile, two other new wide releases opened to disappointing results.
“Jobs,” the Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher, earned $2.6 million on its way to what looks like a weekend total of $8 million. Although opening numbers are disappointing, the film’s $15 million budget should be easy to recoup.
The thriller “Paranoia,” starring Harrison Ford, Liam Hemsworth and Amber Heard, is dead on arrival. With just $1.3 million on Friday, the $35 million film will likely earn between $4 million and $5 million for the weekend, and probably won’t even crack the top ten.
Look for complete weekend box office estimates tomorrow on HitFix.