Friday Box Office: ‘Megamind’ Does Not Impress at $12.4M

DreamWorks’ latest 3D-animated movie unspectacular out of the gate; “Due Date” on track for $34 million weekend

DreamWorks Animation and its distribution partner, Paramount Pictures, will endure another unspectacular opening for a 3D film  with "Megamind" debuting to a tepid $12.4 million at the domestic box office Friday, according to studio data.

Meanwhile, the R-rated "Due Date," which re-teams the director (Todd Phillips) and co-star (Zach Galifianakis) of 2009 comedy hit "The Hangover," is on pace for a weekend gross just north of $34 million, which is right around tracking predictions.

In third place, Tyler Perry film "For Colored Girls" debuted solidly, grossing $7.4 million, putting it on track for a $20 million weekend.

The PG-rated "Megamind," which opened in 3,944 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, more than 2,600 of them 3D-equipped, is on pace to bring in just over $44 million this weekend — below pre-release estimates of around $50 million, and only slightly better than DreamWorks Animation's last original 3D offering, "How to Train Your Dragon."

Of course, after Wall Street and pretty much everyone else criticized "Dragon's" $43.7 million start in late March, the film went on to generate $493.2 million worldwide and spawn a sequel.

On a Friday in which the domestic box office paced about 25 percent ahead of the same weekend in 2009, which was led by the underwhelming performance of Disney's "A Christmas Carol," Warner's "Due Date" finished in second place, grossing $12.2 million. 

Here's the top 10 at the domestic box office. Full story continues below chart:

Among limited releases, Fox Searchlight's Danny Boyle-directed biopic "127 Hours" debuted to a solid $77,057 at four big-city theaters.

Meanwhile, another biopic, Summit's Valerie Plame–themed "Fair Game," grossed an also-strong $177,000 playing at 46 locations.

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