Box Office: ‘One Direction’ Eyes No. 1 With $20 Million-Plus Weekend
Sony-Tristar’s “One Direction: This Is Us” is wooing teens on an otherwise sleepy Labor Day weekend that is seeing a host of other newcomers falter and Weinstein Co.’s “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” continuing strong.
The 3D concert docu earned $8.9 million Friday, and is expected to land in the mid-$20 million range over the long weekend. Just looking at domestic numbers, “One Direction’s” bow is on par with 2009′s “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” also from Sony, which went on to become the highest grossing concert docu on record at the worldwide box office. It’s hard to say if “One Direction” should expect similar business on a global scale, though it does open day-and-date in 40 overseas markets.
The band is also repped by Sony Music and the pic was shot on Sony’s new F55 4K camera, coordinating multiple arms of the media and tech giant.
“The Butler” took $3.6 million Friday, demonstrating impressive hold with a 24% week-over-week drop. The biopic has cumed $62.9 million to date and is looking at a four day holiday around $20 million.
Elsewhere, Warner Bros. opened “Getaway,” Lionsgate-Pantelion opened “Instructions Not Included” and Focus opened “Closed Circuit” to mixed success this frame.
Appealing to Latino auds under the ethnic-targeting Pantelion banner, “Instructions Not Included” is looking stronger than the other two at fewer than half their location counts. It’s expected to earn close to $8 million in four days from just 347 plexes.
“Getaway” is getting off to a rough start with $1.4 million from Friday and just over $5 million anticipated through Monday. Meanwhile “Closed Circuit,” which bowed Wednesday for a potential leg-up on the holiday, is looking at around $4 million for its first six days in theaters.
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