Friday Box Office Analysis
By Tim Briody
May 14, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Bridesmaids, dubbed a female Hangover, earned $7.8 million on Friday, which is good for second place behind [tm:4525_]Thor[/tm]. This is probably due to a combination of the surprisingly solid reviews, some counterprogramming to the testosterone of the last few weeks ([tm:5163_]Fast Five[/tm], Thor) and just some good timing, as 2011 has been surprisingly devoid of (non-animated) comedies, with only one hit, the [bp:1130_]Adam Sandler[/bp]/[bp:1156_]Jennifer Aniston[/bp] fueled Just Go With It. The positive reviews and women-only angle is enough of a hook for Bridesmaids to have a solid opening weekend. It should stand firmly in second with a weekend of $22.6 million.
[tm:2305_]Priest[/tm]
The action/horror movie with vampires opens with $5.5 million, totally blowing the curve on stuff vampire related. Well, okay, that's better than Vampires Suck but this is still behind the $6.6 million earned by Legion (from the same director and starring the same actor) on opening night back in January 2010. While good timing may have helped Bridesmaids, bad timing hurt Priest here, as it's still the number three option for action after Thor and Fast Five. A weekend of around $14.3 million is the likely outcome here.
Thor
Despite falling a generally unsurprising 65% from last Friday, Thor still leads the box office with $9 million. the opening weekend multiplier was a pretty middling 2.57, but it should be in for a bit of a rebound and will extend its lead over Bridesmaids when the weekend estimates are in. Look for a second weekend of $27.3 million.