Get Smart silences The Love Guru
Photo: Warner Bros./Paramount Pictures, doctored by Brad Brevet

I made a bet with Laremy (our Box-Office Oracle) early today that Get Smart would finish under $35 million based on his ludicrous $46.9 million prediction. Well, it looks like Laremy will win the bet, but he will certainly be over in the Box-Office Showcase Showdown.

Steve Mason of Fantasy Moguls has released his Friday Box-Office estimates and they show good things for Get Smart, bad things for The Love Guru and a very poor second week showing for The Incredible Hulk. I will also touch upon Hancock's projected July 4th performance at the end of this article, but first to the weekend.

First up is Get Smart with an estimated $13.5 million on Friday, which is expected to translate to $37 million for the weekend, an impressive result for a movie that deserves it despite me giving it a C+ in what I believed was a rather positive review overall, basically telling you to see Get Smart for a satisfying diversion, but nothing you will be writing home to mom about.

As for The Love Guru, things aren't so bright and no shades are needed unless Mike Myers wants to hide his face as it looks like the Guru Pitka will likely finish fourth for the weekend pulling down an estimated $5.4 million on Friday and is expected to gross around $14 million for the weekend, which is approximately $9 million less than Laremy (who hated the film mind you) projected. Perhaps Myers should stick to the voice acting and leave the skits, which is all that The Love Guru really is, for "Saturday Night Live".

Comedy aside, the biggest news of the weekend may be the egg being laid by The Incredible Hulk in its second weekend as the film looks to drop approximately 60% from last weekend's $55.4 million opening. Mason's estimate has it pulling down $6.4 million on Friday with an expected result of $22.5 million for the weekend. Strangely enough, this means the reigning Hulk film continues to be the much loathed Ang Lee 2003 version, which also cost $13 million less to make. However, it looks like it will suffer a similar second weekend drop as Lee's Hulk dropped 69.7% in its second week. Box-Office Mojo has the head-to-head right here.

As for M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, it impressed last weekend, beating all prognostications with $30.5 million and after an estimated $3.3 million on Friday and an expected $10.25 million for the weekend, Night's film will crack the $50 million mark. A mark I am sure will piss off the haters and impress Fox as it gets closer and closer to that $60 million production budget and they still have the DVD and Blu-ray to look forward to, which, if you didn't know, is where most films make approximately 71% of their money. Yeah, Shyamalan isn't going anywhere folks.

Finally, I promised a look forward at Will Smith's Hancock and you are going to be intrigued by Mason's early tracking numbers for the Will Smith superhero flick. Iron Man may have been the first film to hit $300 million for 2008 this past week, but it looks like Hancock may do half of that in its first five days! Mason's quote goes as such:

By Monday, July 7, Will Smith will be the undisputed No. 1 movie star in the world. My sources tell me that tracking for Hancock (Sony) is in the stratosphere, and its five-day gross will be, conservatively, in the $140 million-$150 million range, with a bigger number highly possible. That would give the former Fresh Prince his eighth consecutive $100 million movie…

Last week I wondered if Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull would hit the $300 million mark and it looks like it just might hit it, but if Hancock is even halfway decent, it looks like it may be a lock for the #1 movie of Summer 2008. Why does Mason believe Smith will be the number one movie star in the world?

Hancock will be his eighth consecutive blockbuster to gross $100 million or more.

Read his complete breakdown and comparison to Toms Hanks and Cruise right here and check out the Friday estimates below. We will be back on Sunday with a full recap of the weekend.

1. Get Smart (Warner Bros) – $13.5 million
2. The Incredible Hulk (Universal) – $6.4 million
3. Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks) – $6.3 million
4. The Love Guru (Paramount) – $5.4 million
5. The Happening (Fox) – $3.3 million
6. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount) – $2.34
7. You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Sony) – $2.3 million
8. Sex and the City (Warner Bros.) – $2.1 million
9. Iron Man (Paramount) – $1.1 million
10. The Strangers (Rogue Releasing) – $670,000

Related post categories: Box-Office News : Get Smart, Hancock, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, Kung Fu Panda, Sex and the City: The Movie, The Happening, The Incredible Hulk, The Love Guru, The Strangers, You Don't Mess With the Zohan

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