It was hardly a freight train rumbling through the domestic box office Friday, but the drawing power of Denzel Washington proved powerful enough for Fox's "Unstoppable" to deliver a No. 1 opening with $8.1 million in first-day receipts, according to studio estimates.
The PG-13-rated runaway-train-themed thriller very likely won't stay in the top spot, with DreamWorks Animation's 3D family film "Megamind" just behind it Friday at $7.9 million, and poised for a $30 million performance for the full weekend.
Budgeted at $85 million after tax breaks, the Tony Scott-directed "Unstoppable" is on track to meet lukewarm pre-release estimates of $20 million-$25 million, and sustain Washington's streak of $20 million-plus wide openings that dates back to 2003's "Out of Time."
Also opening wide this weekend, Rogue Pictures' low-budget sci-fi film "Skyline" also met its tracking Friday, opening to an estimated $4.7 million. Produced by CGI whiz kids Colin and Greg Strause ("Alien vs. Predator: Requiem"), "Skyline" is on pace for around $12 million for the weekend.
Meanwhile, the box-office situation could be called gory for Paramount romantic comedy "Morning Glory," with the Harrison Ford/Diane Keaton/Rachel McAdams film grossing just $3.1 million Friday.
Co-produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot at a cost of around $40 million, "Morning Glory" opened softly Wednesday to $1.1 million and probably won't have even $12 million by the time the weekend is finished.
Overall, the domestic box office was off about 12 percent from the same weekend last year, which was led by Roland Emmerich's "2010."
Here's how the top 10 finished. Report continues below chart:
Finishing in third place Friday, Warner's Todd Phillips-directed comedy "Due Date" finished with an estimated $5.5 million, a 55 percent decline from its opening day a week prior.
And among limited openings, Fox Searchlight's Danny Boyle-directed "127 Hours" grossed a strong $141,000 Friday while expanding from four theaters to 22.
Not, er, fairing as well while expanding from 33 theaters to 175, Summit's "Fair Game" grossed $279,000 Friday.
