‘Furious 7’ likely to top box again office during slow weekend

“Furious 7” is expected to speed past newcomers at the domestic box office as it heads into its fourth weekend.

The Universal Pictures franchise film will likely stay on top of the box office during an anticipated slower weekend, according to people familiar with pre-release audience surveys.

Newcomers “The Age of Adaline” and “Little Boy” are expected to have softer launches, opening with up to $15 million and $3 million, respectively.

Directed by James Wan, “Furious 7” cost Universal about $190 million to make. It takes the ensemble (including Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson and Michelle Rodriguez) from London to Los Angeles, Tokyo, the Dominican Republic and Abu Dhabi.

The film has continued its momentum thanks to positive reviews (an A grade from audience polling firm CinemaScore) and dedicated fans who went to see the movie multiple times.

Lionsgate’s “The Age of Adaline” will compete for second with last weekend’s No. 2 film “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.”

Directed by Lee Toland Krieger, “Age of Adaline” follows a woman named Adaline (Blake Lively) who has remained 29 years old for eight decades. It costars Harrison Ford, Michiel Huisman, Kathy Baker and Amanda Crew.

The film, which cost $30 million to make, marks Lively’s return to the big screen after the 2012 film “Savages.” That movie, directed by Oliver Stone, opened to $16 million and went on to pull in about $47 million in the U.S. and Canada.

Meanwhile, “Little Boy,” released by Open Road Films, is targeting faith-based moviegoers and family audiences.

The PG-13 rated film, which is being released on roughly 1,000 screens, follows a child in the 1940s who is trying to bring his father home from the war. It stars Kevin James (who is also on theater screens for his comedic role as Paul Blart), David Henrie (from Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place”), Michael Rapaport, Emily Watson and Ben Chaplin.

It cost about $20 million to make. In the past, Christian moviegoers have flocked to religious dramas such as “God’s Not Dead” and “Noah,” which found success at the domestic box office in 2014.

However, faith-based drama “Do You Believe?” had trouble drawing moviegoers this year. The Pure Flix film has made a little more than $12 million since its mid-March release.

“Unfriended,” Universal’s latest micro-budget collaboration with Blumhouse Productions, will likely stay in the top five.

Though this weekend is expected to be slower at the box office, moviegoers and the industry are gearing up for next weekend when “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is expected to launch and draw more than $200 million.

The sequel to the 2012 Marvel film brings back superheroes Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).

Fandango, a movie ticketing company, reported this month that an estimated 54% of surveyed ticket-buyers said the franchise film topped their list of summer picks.

Disney reported Thursday that the superhero film collected $9.5 million on its first day in release in 11 international markets.

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