‘Spy’ to win weekend showdown
The “Entourage” boys may be back in town, but this weekend is more geared toward the ladies, with Melissa McCarthy’s comedy “Spy” expected to win at the box office.
The espionage film probably will debut with about $30 million, according to people familiar with pre-release audience surveys. That would put it ahead of fellow newcomer “Insidious: Chapter 3,” which is tracking to launch with about $25 million.
Meanwhile, the bigscreen adaptation of HBO’s “Entourage,” which rolled out in theaters Tuesday evening, is expected to pull in $14 million to $17 million over its five-day opening.
“San Andreas,” last weekend’s No. 1 film, probably will fall about 50% in ticket sales in its second weekend.
Female filmgoers, who have already f lexed their box-office clout this sum- mer, probably will be the key demographic audience for “Spy,” which is being released by 20th Century Fox.
The film, which was produced by Chernin Entertainment for about $65 million, follows Susan Cooper (McCarthy), an unsuspecting secret agent on her first field assignment to stop an arms dealer from selling a nuclear weapon. She plays opposite Jude Law, Jason Statham and Rose Byrne.
The film has already earned a 95% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Meanwhile, “Insidious: Chapter 3,” the latest from Blumhouse Productions, is being released by Gramercy Pictures, Focus Features’ genre label. It cost a modest $10 million to make. Leigh Whannell, co-creator of the “Insidious” and “Saw” franchises, takes the reins as director, writer and actor for the third installment in the spooky horror franchise.
In 2013, the second installment collected more than $40 million in its opening weekend. That was three times more than what the original “Insidious” took in during its first weekend in 2011.
Given the success of the franchise and decent 60% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, “Insidious: Chapter 3” should fare well among moviegoers.
“Entourage,” which cost less than $30 million to make, had a solid start, collecting $5.4 million domestically since it rolled out. However, Warner Bros., which is releasing the film, never expected it to be the No. 1 film of the weekend because of the stiff competition.
Written and directed by series creator Doug Ellin, “Entourage” picks up shortly after the 2011 TV finale with the boys — Hollywood star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), E. (Kevin Connolly), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Drama (Kevin Dillon) — back to their usual shenanigans.