Box office: 'Hunger Games' dethroned by 'Think Like a Man' on Friday

Romantic comedy over-performs while 'The Lucky One' also opens strong

By Dave Lewis Saturday, Apr 21, 2012 1:27 PM

'Think Like a Man'

Credit: Screen Gems

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Did you hear the cannon?

"The Hunger Games" -- which has ruled the last four consecutive Friday box office battles -- has finally been slain in battle.

Screen Gems' "Think Like a Man" placed No. 1 on Friday. The romantic comedy topped expectations with $12.2 million, including a healthy $500,000 in Thursday midnight receipts. Expect the film to earn around $20 and $25 million for the weekend.

Based on Steve Harvey's relationship advice book, "Man" stars Kevin Hart, Gabrielle Union, Romany Malco, Meagan Good and Michael Ealy.

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It topped the Nicholas Sparks-derived Zac Efrom melodrama "The Lucky One," which pulled in a strong $9.1 million on Friday. The Warner Bros. film should earn around $18 million for the three-day, which is a good number, but not as high as the last two Sparks adaptations, "Dear John" and "The Last Song."

That leaves Lionsgate's "Games" far behind at third with $4 million. But don't feel too sorry for Katniss and the other tributes; the domestic cume for "Hunger Games" is now $346 million, while its worldwide gross stands at well over half a billion dollars.

Meanwhile, Disney's newest documentary about the animal kingdom, "Chimpanzee," opened at No. 4 with $3.5 million, while Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's horror headspin "Cabin in the Woods" closed out the top five with an estimated $2.4 million.

Next week sees the wide releases of "The Five-Year Engagement," "The Raven," "Safe" and "The Pirates! Band of Misfits."

Look for updated weekend estimates Sunday on HitFix.

Dave Lewis
Producer

Dave Lewis has been a Los Angeles-based entertainment writer and editor for nearly ten years. Originally hailing from Minneapolis, he moved to L.A. in 1996 to attend USC, before working for various periodicals and web sites including a lengthy stint at Variety.com. He joined the HitFix staff in 2011.