The early estimates, according to my studio sources, will put "Tropic Thunder" at the top of the Labor Day weekend box office sweepstakes with a $14.6 million take at the box office.
Close behind, competing neck-and-neck, will be: "The Dark Knight" taking in a still-amazing $12 million; "Babylon A.D.," taking $11.8 million; and "The House Bunny," with an impressive $11.8 million too. ("The Dark Knight" inches ever close to the $500 million box office figure domestically. It will get there.)
Tip of the hat to Universal, who put out a sing-along version of "Mamma Mia" on 300 screens, which bumped the movie up 18 percent this weekend to take in $5.9 million. It is now over $132 million cumulatively.
More later on the box office as a whole. This year to date is running slightly behind last year, according to Box Office Mojo: $6.72 billion versus $6.78 billion.
