‘2 Guns’ Takes Control of Weekend Box Office Race With $10M Friday

Denzel Washington-Mark Wahlberg action comedy is on track for $28M 3-day total. "The Wolverine" beating out "Smurfs 2" for 2nd

The Denzel Washington-Mark Wahlberg action comedy "2 Guns" took control of the weekend box office race Friday with a $10 million debut that puts its on pace for around $28 million for the three days.

Last week’s No. 1 movie, “The Wolverine,” was running second after a $6.4 million Friday that has it on the way to a second weekend of around $20 million. That would be a steep 69 percent drop for Fox’s Hugh Jackman superhero sequel, which has run up roughly $80 million domestically so far.

The weekend’s other wide opener, Sony family film “The Smurfs 2,” had a soft $5.5 million Friday and is looking at a three-day total of around $18 million. That means the live action-animation mash-up, which opened Wednesday, will probably come in at around $27 million for the five days.

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That’s below expectations, but the studio is banking on a bounty from overseas, where the G-rated “Smurfs 2” is rolling out in 42 countries this weekend.

The numbers for the R-rated "2 Guns" are more impressive because it’s in 3,025 theaters, considerably less than “The Wolverine” (3,924) or “The Smurfs 2” (3,866), both of which are offering 3D.

The strong showing by "2 Guns" will extend the box-office hot streak of Washington. His last four movies – “The Book of Eli,” “Unstoppable,” “Safe House” and “Flight,” for which he earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination – have opened to an average of $30 million and taken in an average of nearly $100 million each.

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In this one, he plays a DEA agent who finds himself on the run with a naval intelligence officer (Wahlberg) after a botched attempt to infiltrate a drug cartel. The critics were lukewarm on “2 Guns” and audiences gave it a “B+” CinemaScore. Baltasar Kormakur is the director, as he was on Wahlberg 2012's "Contraband."

Warner Bros.' R-rated horror movie “The Conjuring” will cross the $100 million mark sometime this weekend. Its $4.1 million Friday total was off just 43 percent from last week and it should bring in around $12.5 million for the three days.

That will put it ahead of “Despicable Me 2,” which is looking at a $10 million fifth weekend after bringing in $3 million Friday. The animated sequel from Illumination Entertainment and Universal has now brought in more than $320 million domestically and is approaching $700 million worldwide.

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Sony’s Adam Sandler comedy “Grown Ups 2′ was beating out Fox’s animated snail tale “Turbo” for sixth place. It took in $2.4 million Friday and will likely wind up just under $8 million for the weekend. DreamWorks Animation’s 3D “Turbo” brought in $1.8 million Friday.

Lionsgate's “Red 2” took in $1.6 million Friday, which puts it on pace for a three-day total of around $5.5 million and a domestic total of $45 million after three weeks.  Fox’s Melissa McCarthy-Sandra Bullock comedy “The Heat” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim” are next, and both should come in at around $4.5 million for the weekend.

The Lindsay Lohan-James Deen romantic thriller “The Canyons” debuted at New York's IFC Theater on Friday and took in a so-so $7,000. The film, written by James Easton Ellis and directed by Paul Schrader, is also available via video on demand.

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