Friday Box Office | featured news

"The Call" could near $17 million in its debut; "Oz the Great and Powerful" will again top the chart with a $42 million-plus weekend.

Though the sky’s not the limit, the opening weekend gross for “Oz the Great and Powerful” is certainly over the rainbow. Disney’s fantasy prequel earned $24.1 million Friday, and is looking at a three-day take close to $80 million. This is great news for the Mouse after last weekend’s domestically disappointing “Jack the Giant Slayer”...

Hollywood is bracing for another down weekend as new entries "21 and Over" and "Last Exorcism Part II" also turn in soft performances, while independent thriller "Phantom" is looking at one of the worst openings of all time. read more

"Identity Thief" topped the box office on Friday night, scoring $11.2 million despite the fact that much of the Eastern seaboard was buried under a massive snowfall. The Universal comedy, starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy, is performing beyond expectations and should earn a strong $34 million or so for the weekend. Studios are unsure how the blizzard will affect the rest of the weekend, as many theaters in New England are closed. http://www.hitfix.com

Paramount and MGM's R-rated version of the classic fairy tale stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton; "Movie 43" draws a D CinemaScore despite its star-studded ensemble cast. read more

The governator's first leading role in nearly a decade is looking at a 10th place finish for the long MLK holiday weekend; "Silver Linings Playbook" surges as it expands nationwide. New horror pic Mama and holdover Zero Dark Thirty -- both starring Jessica Chastain -- easily topped the Friday box office with $10.1 million and $4.6 million, respectively.

The Friday box office estimates for "Zero Dark Thirty" are in and they are looking good. While it has been playing in limited theaters since Dec. 19, the controversial Kathryn Bigelow movie had its wide release on Friday. "Zero Dark Thirty" made $9 million across 2,937 theaters. The torture scenes in the movie have been the subject of debate, with the most recent input from Sony co-chair Amy Pascal.

Traffic was sluggish at the multiplex on Friday as a crush of new movies -- including Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher and Judd Apatow's This Is 40 -- competed with one another for the attention of moviegoers already distracted by holiday preparations. Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey beat both new films to stay at No. 1, grossing $10.2 million for an eight-day domestic cume of $123.3 million.

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is living up to expectations, grossing $37.5 million to score the biggest Friday ever in the month of December. Overseas, the film's three-day gross (it began rolling out Wednesday) is $57 million, putting its world total at $94.5 million.