Box Office: 'The Karate Kid' the new champ as it hits no. 1 Friday

Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan in "The Karate Kid."

Credit: Sony Pictures

So much for box office's June gloom.  The summer has its first breakout hit, as predicted by this pundit a few weeks ago, with the remake of "The Karate Kid."  

Produced by Will Smith and starring his son Jaden and Jackie Chan, the remake of the 1984 classic pulled in an astonishing $18.8 million on Friday for what could be a $52-60 million weekend.  What's more impressive is that with a budget of $40 million, the "Kid" is looking like a major profit center for Sony Pictures even before International revenue comes in to play. The bigger question is how strong it can continue to play with the mega-"Toy Story 3" opening next Friday or whether "Toy" will take an immediate hit from the "Kid" buzz.

Second place went to 20th Century Fox's "The A-Team" which did less than anticipated with just $9.5 million on Friday and a projected 3-day total of $28-30 million.  That's a tad under industry polling which expected a $30-35 million debut.  Reviews were harsher than many believed, could that have caused a dent in "A-Team's" grosses?  Or, did "Karate Kid" skew broader than Fox had anticipated?  Needless to say, "A-Team" may not be the new franchise Fox was hoping for.

Still trucking along in third was "Shrek Forever After" with $4.5 million.  "Get Him to the Greek" followed with $3.2 million and "Killers" was fifth with $2.6 million.

Look for updated 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.