Melissa McCarthy’s “Life of the Party” grossed $700,000 in previews last night, while Gabrielle Union’s “Breaking In” scored $615,000 at the Thursday box office.
New Line’s “Life of the Party” stars McCarthy as a recently divorced mother who decides to go back to college to finish her degree…at the same school that her daughter (Molly Gordon) is attending. The film is rated PG-13 to be more friendly to mother-daughter audiences, whom WB is hoping will turn out on Mother’s Day weekend. McCarthy co-wrote the film with Ben Falcone, who is also the director.
Analysts are expecting “Life of the Party” to have a $20 million start against a low-$30 million budget. So far, the film holds a score of 40 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Universal’s “Breaking In” stars Union as a single mother who travels to her recently deceased father’s Malibu mansion to settle his estate, only to find herself in a ferocious battle to save her children from four criminals who invade the house and kidnap them, demanding she hand over the contents of her father’s safe.
The thriller is looking at an opening weekend of $15 million.
James McTeigue directed the film that Will Packer served as a producer on. “Breaking In” holds a score of 30 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Avengers: Infinity War” is expected to easily hold on to the No. 1 spot for one more weekend before giving it up to “Deadpool 2” next week. So far, the film’s holdover performance has been consistent with other May Marvel releases, but on a larger monetary scale. After scoring a record $257 million opening weekend, “Avengers” made $114.7 million in its second weekend for a 55 percent drop.
For its third weekend, analysts are projecting “Infinity War” to make approximately $55 million to $60 million. So far, the film directed by the Russo brothers has grossed $1.3 billion worldwide.