Audiences were craving a post-holiday scare as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D” massacred the competition on a relatively slow Friday night at the box office.
Likely to earn around $25 million for the weekend, the sequel to Tobe Hooper’s 1974 horror classic carved up a meaty $10.2 million on Friday, putting it well ahead of the No. 2 film, Quentin Tarantino’s bloody western “Django Unchained.”
That film earned another $6.1 million and is well on its way to crossing the $100 million mark. Its domestic total now stands at $92.4 million.
Meanwhile, Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” prequel, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Adventure,” picked up $5.2 million worth of box office gold, putting it just slightly ahead of the musical holdover “Les Miserables,” which earned $4.9 million on Friday.
Domestic totals for both films are looking good, with “The Hobbit” having earned $251 million, while “Les Mis” have so far netted $92.4 million.
The Bette Midler-Billy Crystal comedy “Parental Guidance” continues to play, coming in at No. 5 with $3.1 million, bringing its domestic total to $45.7 million.
Despite the presence of Matt Damon, Gus Van Sant’s “Promised Land” didn’t make much noise after expanding to 1,676 screens, earning just $1.3 million.
Meanwhile, Kathryn Bigelow’s controversial “Zero Dark Thirty” continues to hunt down big bucks in limited play. It earned $825,000 from just 60 screens, brining its total up to $2.5 million.
It opens wide next Friday, alongside “Gangster Squad” starring Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Sean Penn and Josh Brolin.
Look for complete weekend estimates Sunday on HitFix.