‘Contraband’ starts Martin Luther King weekend with strong numbers

While this weekend is a long weekend, box office numbers are not expected to be too big, however Universal’s Contraband with Mark Wahlberg has already gotten off to a surprisingly strong start, making a decent $9 million on Friday alone. The other major releases, Joyful Noise and Beauty and the Beast in 3D, also had decent openings, while The Devil Inside gave off hints as to how far it will fall.

Deadline reported that Contraband’s numbers may cause the industry to adjust its expectations for the action film. Over the course of the three-day weekend, it is now projected that the film could make up to $25 million. Add in Monday, and its total could grow another $5 million. Contraband is the first action film to open since Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol went wide three weeks ago and is based on the Icelandic film, Reykjavik-Rotterdam, notes AltFilmGuide.

Disney’s re-issue of Beauty and the Beast came in second with $5.5 million. BoxOfficeMojo predicted that the film would top Contraband with $19.6 million, but after Friday’s numbers, The Hollywood Reporter predicts that it will make $20 million to $22 million. Still, it will probably not make the $30 million that The Lion King in 3D made.

Warner Bros.’s Joyful Noise made $3.8 million, just ahead of Mission: Impossible’s $3.5 million. The inspirational film with Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton could probably wind up making between $15 million and $17 million by the end of the four-day weekend.

Meanwhile, The Devil Inside made just $2.6 million. Deadline predicts that by the end of Sunday, the film will have made $7.5 million, a full 78 percent drop from its surprising opening weekend.

The Iron Lady with Meryl Streep also had a great opening, making $1.5 million in just 802 theaters Friday.