It’s a Ryan Reynolds battle at the box office this weekend, with the actor starring in Universal’s R.I.P.D. and providing the lead character’s voice in DreamWorks Animation’s Turbo. But it looks like neither film will be able to top The Conjuring, the latest horror film from Warner Bros. and Saw creator James Wan.
WB is hoping that The Conjuring will be as big a hit as The Purge was for Universal in May. It does have an R-rating, but that’s not expected to keep it from making over $30 million. Entertainment Weekly is predicting $32 million, just below Purge’s $34.1 million opening. The film features Lili Taylor and is opening in 2,903 theaters.
Of Reynolds’ movies, Turbo has the best shot to be a hit. BoxofficeMojo predicts $25.7 million over the weekend. It has been in theaters since Wednesday, grossing $5.5 million that day. It will be interesting to see how well it does, since it is going to be the basis of DWA’s first TV series, which will be exclusively on Netflix in the fall.
Red 2, the sequel to the surprise 2010 hit with Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren, cost Lionsgate $85 million, a budget justified after the first made $90.3 million domestically. It’s expected that the film will be lucky to cross $20 million, which isn’t too far off from Red’s $21.4 million opening.
The final new release this weekend is R.I.P.D., which teams Reynolds with Jeff Bridges. The two play cops in the afterlife and Universal hasn’t been able to generate any buzz for the project. It cost a whopping $135 million to make, but this isn’t going to do Men in Black-style business. Expect it to open outside of the Top 5, since Grown Ups 2 and Despicable Me 2 are still drawing audiences.
image: 'R.I.P.D.' - Universal/image.net