It’s going to take Liam Neeson and Jesus Christ to knock The LEGO Movie out of the top spot at the box office. This weekend, the 61-year-old Neeson is back in action with Non-Stop, while Mark Burnett’s edited version of The Bible, Son of God, opens as well.
Neeson has been doing non-stop promotion for Non-Stop, which continues the streak of action films for the actor that started with Taken. Universal is hoping that the movie does as well as hits like Unknown, which opened to $21.9 million, and The Grey, which hit $19.7 million when it opened. Box Office Mojo predicts that it will actually do better than those two films, since Non-Stop has received a lot of promotion. A $25 million opening will be enough to put the film on top.
Next up is Son of God, which is the Jesus part of The Bible in movie form. It stars Diogo Morgado as Jesus and, if The Bible’s stunning run on The History Channel last year is any indication, people will rush to see it even if there’s no star.
“This movie is going to be seen by a billion people over the next three or four years, so a big opening would be great, but this is very much a long-term proposition,” Burnett told TheWrap this week.
So, while Son of God isn’t expected to start really strong, Burnett is confident that the movie will be popular for years to come. Entertainment Weekly predicts a $20 million opening.
The LEGO Movie just had its third weekend at No. 1, and even if it drops around 40 percent, that will still give it just under $20 million. The movie is up to $187 million domestically already.
The rest of the Top 5 will likely be the holdovers 3 Days To Kill and Pompeii, which will both struggle to get past $5 million in their second weekends.
image courtesy of image.net/Universal