Given some poor tracking, Jaden Smith’s unproven box office record and the incredible popularity of Fast & Furious 6, many experts went into this weekend willing to admit the young star’s After Earth might lose the money battle to the likeable holdover. If Friday’s estimates are any indication, not only is that definitely going to happen, there’s a distinct possibility the flick will also lose to Now You See Me, which pulled an A- CinemaScore and will likely reap those benefits in the coming days.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, After Earth, which also stars Will Smith in a more limited though heavily-advertised role, brought in $9.8 million on Friday. That should put it in line for about $27 million over the entire weekend. Similarly, Now You See Me raked in $10 million on Friday and may push to $28 million or even a little bit higher if that good word of mouth continues, which will be enough to make it the weekend’s feel good story, even though it likely won’t overtake Fast & Furious which should net about $35 million.
Most people will likely point to the Smith family as the big box office losers this weekend, but a case could be made that the man who lost the most is actually M Night Shyamalan, who was clearly hoping this film could be the start of a comeback. Considering his name wasn’t really advertised at all with the film, it’s hard to blame him for the lack of interest, but he certainly can be blamed for the somewhat sleepy result.
We’ll have a full box office report for you later in the weekend.
