Box Office: 'Green Lantern' lights a fire with a $21.6 million Friday

The reviews have been dismal, but an intense marketing campaign, a hero over 70-years-old and being the star of one of the most popular comic books in America may have saved "Green Lantern" at the box office.  The Martin Campbell directed adventure collected $21.6 million on Friday for what should be a $58-60 million weekend.  That would be less than "Thor" debuted with last month ($65 million), but a bit higher than the $55 million "X-Men: First Class" debuted to two weeks ago.  Of course, that well regarded reboot didn't have the benefit of IMAX or 3D screens, but Warner Bros. will breathe a sigh of relief the DC hero got off to such a solid start.  At this point, whether the film can make up its $200 million budget will largely depend on how it fares overseas.

Waddling in with $6.4 million in second place was "Mr. Popper's Penguins."  The Jim Carrey family film looks like it will gross $17-19 million for the three-day.  Even with a reported budget of just $55 million, that's got to be a bit disappointing for 20th Century Fox.  And yet, opening against a kid-friendly superhero flick probably wasn't the smartest date for the comedy.  This could end up being Carrey's smallest wide release debut since "The Number 23" counted just $14 million in 2007.

Battling "Penguins" for second place this weekend will be last weekend's champ, "Super 8."  The J.J. Abrams retro-thriller found another $6 million on Friday for $57.5 million in just 8 days.  It could also finish between $17-19 million.

Look for complete box office weekend estimates tomorrow on HitFix.