Actual United States Navy SEALs powered Act of Valor into a easy first place finish at the box office on Friday, topping Good Deeds, Wanderlust and Gone.
Without the benefit of Hollywood stars in the lead, Relativity’s Act of Valor rode real-life active duty United States Navy SEALs to a big $9.1 million opening on Friday. The film should cruise through Saturday and Sunday in the lead and complete a triumphant first weekend in theaters north of $20 million.
Second place went to Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds with $5.35 million. Perry is accustomed to bigger openings as Good Deeds is the second lowest in his career behind a $4.6 million debut by Daddy’s Little Girls.
wanderlust proved woeful in opening in eighth place with $2.2 million. No amount of publicity that centered around Jennifer Aniston stripping down for the role seemed to make a difference. For co-star Paul Rudd, this soft opening is familiar territory after his last film, Our Idiot Brother, could only managed $7 million through its first three days.
Likewise, Gone will be just that from the top 10 shortly with a $1.7 million Friday opening. It won’t even reach $5 million through Sunday.
We’ll be back Sunday afternoon with the complete weekend box office wrap. Expect Act of Valor on top and the remaining new releases to maintain their Friday top 10 positioning.
