“Get Hard,” the R-rated comedy starring Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart, laughed its way to $1.8 million at the box office at late shows Thursday night.
The Warner Bros. release is expected to take in around $35 million and top the weekend, but DreamWorks Animation’s family film “Home,” which brought in a strong $650,000 Thursday night, shouldn’t be far behind.
It was a promising start for both of the frontrunners. The “Get Hard” number is better than the $1.1 million that “Ride Along,” which paired Hart with Ice Cube in another buddy comedy, managed on Thursday before going on to a $41 million debut last January. And it beat the $800,000 that Hart’s “The Wedding Ringer” scored on its way to a $20.6 million debut two months ago.
The Thursday night haul for “Home” topped the $375,000 taken in by “Rio 2” and $200,000 of “The Croods,” two other animated films distributed by Fox, as the DWA film is.
“Home” will be in a market-high 3,708 theaters by Friday, with “Get Hard” screening in 3,175.
“It Follows,” a well-reviewed teen horror film, is expanding into 1,218 theaters for Radius-TWC. Also debuting is “Serena,” an R-rated drama starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper that Magnolia Picture is rolling out on a modest 58 screens.