Box Office: 'Elysium' on track to top a crowded weekend

Box Office: ‘Elysium’ on track to top a crowded weekend

By Chris Barton

Aug. 10, 2013 12 AM PT

In a four-horse race among newcomers at the multiplex, Matt Damon’s “Elysium” looks set to come out on top of the weekend box office charts.

Based on estimates of Friday night’s ticket sales, Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to the 2009 box offfice hit “District 9” took in over $11 million on its opening night, placing it on track to earn more than $30 milion in its opening weekend. By way of comparison,”District 9” earned $37.4 million on its opening weekend en route to more than $200 million in earnings worldwide.

The Warner Bros. comedy “We’re the Millers” looks on track for second place with an estimated $8.5 million, bringing its total to nearly $20 million in its first three days. Starring Jason Sudeikis as a drug dealer trying to pass as a the head of a family that also includes a stripper played by Jennifer Aniston, the movie is tracking to be a hit for the studio after costing $37 million to make.

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Disney’s “Planes,” a conceptual sequel of sorts to its successful “Cars” franchise, earned an estimated $8 million on Friday night and is tracking for third place. Initially intended as a direct-to-video release, the movie featuring the voices of Dane Cook and Brad Garrett should easily recoup its $50-million price tag.

The sequel “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” earned an estimated $4.9 million on Friday, bringing its three-day total to more than $13 million. The film is so far failing to meet the same opening numbers as its predecessor, “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” which eventually earned $226.5 million worldwide.

The Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg action movie “2 Guns” appears to be the lone holdover in the top five from the prior weekend’s box office charts, earning an estimated $3.4 million on Friday.

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Twitter: @chrisbarton