Box Office: ‘Butler’ Delivers in Soph Sesh As Newcomers Fail to Break $10 Mil

Three new entries this weekend can’t upset “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.” The Weinstein Co.’s biopic will take first place in its soph sesh, headed to about $16 million, and even Warner Bros.’ “We’re the Millers” will stay in second with about $13 million.

This leaves a crowd of newcomers to fight for third and below, none of which looks as though it will break $10 million in three days.

Neck-and-neck, the leads for bronze are Focus Features’ “The World’s End” and Sony-Screen Gems’ “Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” which earned about $3.5 million and $3.1 million Friday, respectively. Both films are looking at a three-day around $9 million, so it looks as though it’ll be the former’s word of mouth versus the latter’s franchise fervor (based on a beloved teen lit book series, but eviscerated by critics) as to which wins.

“Mortal Instruments” bowed early on Wednesday to get a leg up on the crowded weekend and target a segment of young adult girls who are still on summer break. It is expected to make between $13.3 million and $13.8 million in five days in release.

Lionsgate’s “You’re Next,” which received some pre-weekend optimism given the performance of recent scarers and thrillers, opened a hair behind “Mortal Instruments” with $3 million Friday. Unfortunately, given the three-day trajectories of horror films, the thin gap is expected to widen with “You’re Next” earning between $7.5 million and $8 million this frame, behind Disney’s “Planes” for fifth.

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