Can Hugh Jackman open a movie? Outside of playing Wolverine in three “X-Men” movies and a “Wolverine” spin-off, Jackman’s track record has been spotty. Friday, however provided him with one of his biggest live-action openings outside of Marvel’s mutant franchise as DreamWorks’ “Real Steel” debuted with $8.6 million.
Budgeted at $120 million (although strangely being reported as $110 million), “Steel” found just enough families and twentysomething males to rule Friday’s box office. At this point, the Shawn Levy film should gross between $24-26 million for the three-day.
Debuting less dramatically at the no. 2 spot was “The Ides of March.” George Clooney’s fourth directorial effort pulled in $3.5 million for what should be a $10-11 million weekend. That’s a tad under expectations for the adult themed thriller.
The third slot went to last weekend’s champ “Dolphin Tale.” The family flick faltered under “Real Steel” siphoning off some of its audience and found just $2.4 million. For the weekend “Dolphin Tale” is looking for something in in the $7-8 million range.
“Moneyball” dropped to fourth where it cued up another $2.2 million for what many expect will be a $6-7 million weekend. The acclaimed Brad Pitt drama is quickly losing steam in theaters and will be lucky to hit $65 millions when all is said and done.
Summit Entertainment’s “50/50” found only $1.8 million on Friday for what could be a $4 million three-day. The Joseph Gordon Levitt and Seth Rogen dramedy has not been the big crowd pleaser the studio was hoping for.
Look for complete weekend estimates tomorrow on HitFix.