Big Matinees Bounce Box Office Trio $30+M: ?The Vow?, ?Safe House?, ?Star Wars 3D?

FRIDAY 1:30 PM UPDATE: This is exciting because of much bigger-than-expected matinees. Hang on for a wild ride because Hollywood is now holding its collective breath to see whether the North American box office can open three major movies to $30+ million on a non-holiday weekend. Studio execs are racing to check stats if this has ever happened before. As it is they still wonder if�four major movies can debut to $20+ million on this non-holiday weekend. For certain, that’s never been done before.* I for one am so relieved not to write the word ‘slump’�when it comes to 2012′s theatrical grosses. There are�real surprises so far today: Sony Pictures/Screen Gems’ The Vow was expected to be the certain frontrunner and it’s even stronger than projected. But now�Universal’s Safe House also is overperforming wildly and could become the weekend winner. And LucasFilm/Fox’s Star Wars 3D: Episode I – Phantom Menace is soaring in matinees just as it did in midnights. It all depends on how frontloaded this wild card winds up. Here are Friday/weekend projections right now from my sources which will refine tonight: 1.�Safe House (Universal) NEW [3,119 Theaters] Estimated Friday $14M, Estimated Weekend $38M 1. The Vow (Screen Gems/Sony) NEW [2,958 Theaters] Estimated Friday $13M, Estimated Weekend $36M 3. Star Wars 3D: Episode I – Phantom Menace (LucasFilm/Fox) NEW [2,655 Theaters] Estimated Friday $11M, Estimated Weekend $33M 4. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (Warner Bros) NEW [3,470 ... Read More »

Source: http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/strong-midnights-star-wars-3d-phantom-menace-1-1m-the-vow-700k-safe-house-530k/

Jessica ParÈ Jessica Simpson Jessica White Jill Arrington Jill Wagner Joanna Krupa