Ridley Scott’s ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ Takes $1.2 Million at Thursday Box Office

The Biblical epic starring Christian Bale is expected to win the weekend for Fox

Director Ridley Scott‘s Biblical epic “Exodus: Gods and Kings” got rolling with a $1.2 million haul from early shows at roughly 2,500 theaters Thursday night at the box office.

“Exodus,” which stars Christian Bale as Moses, is expected to end the three-week run of reigning champ “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” with a three-day total in the $25 million range.

The early show haul for “Exodus” is a little under the early total of “Noah,” which brought in $1.6 million from Thursday shows on its way to a $43 million debut in March for Paramount. “Exodus” will be in 3,505 theaters by Friday, the majority of which are 3D.

Joel Edgerton, John Turturro, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kinglsey and Ben Mendelsohn co-star in the $140 million PG-13-rated action epic, which was produced by Chernin Entertainment and Scott.

Chris Rock’s R-rated comedy “Top Five,” the weekend’s other wide opener, brought in $191,394 from roughly 800 screens for Paramount Pictures.

By comparison, the drama “Addicted” took in $164.000 from its Thursday shows, and went on to finish with $7.4 million in its debut in October. That’s about what Paramount is looking for from “Top Five,” which was written, directed and stars Rock, and will be in 975 theaters by Friday.

Rosario Dawson, Tracy Morgan, Gabrielle Union, Cedric the Entertainer and Kevin Hart co-star in the film, which takes a look at the realities of being black and famous. Paramount acquired “Top Five” out of the Toronto Film Festival for $12 million.

Paramount and IAC Films present “Top Five,” which was produced by Scott Rudin,and Eli Bush and executive produced by Tony Hernandez. Jay Z and Kanye West are co-producers.

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