Box Office: 'Hall Pass' can barely make it out of class Friday but is still no. 1

Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis in "Hall Pass."

Credit: Warner Bros.

Hollywood studios may be starting to wonder if moviegoers are going to return to theaters before the traditionally busy summer season.  Warner Bros.'s "Hall Pass" opened at no. 1 on Friday, but with a very weak $4.6 million.  The Farrelly Bros. latest will be lucky to hit $15 million by the end of the weekend.  That's not far off pre-release polling, but it's still pretty disappointing considering the initial interest for the Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis comedy.  It's also disconcerting considering, like the Super Bowl, Oscar weekend tends to take a larger than normal drop on Sunday when most moviegoers are watching the big show.

Not far behind, however, was WB's "Unknown" with $3.9 million.  The Liam Neeson thriller as now earned $34.1 million in its first 10 days.  The crowd please won't be the next "Taken," but should easily hit the $60 million mark when all is said and done.

Third place went to "Just Go With It" which continues to show Adam Sandler's hold on the American populace. The critically drubbed comedy found another $3.2 million for a new cume of $71.4 million.  Can "Go With It" get to Sandler's magic $100 million mark?  Yes, yes it can.

"I Am Number Four" and "Gnomeo and Juliet" both tied for $3.1 million.  "Juliet" could easily win the weekend if it gets the expected Saturday matinee bounce it has experienced the past few weekend.  The Elton John produced family flick has reached $64 million to date.

The other major release this weekend was "Drive Angry 3D" which found a very disappointing $1.6 million. 

Look for complete weekend estimates tomorrow on HitFix.

Gregory Ellwood
Editor-in-Chief, Co-Founder

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With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios and has written for Variety, MSN and the LA Times. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing hitting 3’s on the basketball court and following his beloved Clippers.