Providing a respite for females weary of male action tentpoles Paul Feig's Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy headliner The Heat is off to a stellar start at the Northern American box office for 20th Century Fox grossing $13.6 million on Friday for a projected $39 million weekend.
The Heat Film ReviewWhite House Down Film ReviewChanning Tatum on Directing 'Magic Mike 2 ' Steven Soderbergh's D.P. Offer and Joseph Gordon Levitt's Advice (QA)Jamie Foxx's Surprising Views on Presidents Bill Clinton George W. Bush and Barack Obama (QA)The news was grim however for Roland Emmerich's White House Down pairing Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx. The $150 million film from Sony took in around $9 million on Friday to only narrowly beat World War Z ($8.9 million).
THR COVER Channing Tatum Jamie Foxx and 'White House Down's' Superhero Free Summer Gamble
World War Z is likely to pull ahead of White House Down on Saturday however putting White House Down at No. 4 for the weekend.
Disney and Pixar's Monsters University is holding at No. 1 in its second weekend grossing roughly $14.3 million on Friday for an eight day domestic cume of $139.1 million. By Sunday its total is likely to hover around $170 million.
Heading into the weekend The Heat and White House Down were each tracking to bow in the $30 million range. And on Friday night each film earned an A CinemaScore from moviegoers.
The Heat marks another major victory for McCarthy and Feig who worked together on Bridesmaids as well as for Bullock. To date McCarthy's top opening at the domestic box office is Identity Thief which debuted earlier this year to $34.6 million.
Costing a modest $43 million to produce the raunchy R rated comedy stars Bullock as a strict FBI agent who is forced to team up with McCarthy's rough around the edges Boston street cop.
Feig's Bridesmaids grossed $26.2 million in its domestic debut in May 2011. The film which starred McCarthy along with Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph became a female friendly comedy hit and has gone on to gross $288.4 million to date worldwide.
White House Down will turn into a financial headache for Sony unless it picks up the pace in North America or does exceedingly well overseas. The A CinemaScore is a a good sign in terms of strong word of mouth but simply not enough moviegoers turned out on Friday.
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In the film the president of the United States (Foxx) and a wannabe Secret Service agent (Tatum) team up after the White House is invaded by terrorists and the U.S. Capitol destroyed.
One problem White House Down comes out just three months after FilmDistrict's White House under siege film Olympus Has Fallen played in theaters. Another is a glut of male skewing action films in the market including World War Z and Man of Steel.
White House Down looks the like lowest opening for an Emmerich directed tentpole in recent times. In summer 2004 The Day After Tomorrow debuted to $68.7 million. Independence Day which also featured the destruction of the White House opened to $50.2 million in July 1996.
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