“Cars 3” cruising to $50M-plus debut

Disney and Pixar's “Cars 3” is headed for a $51 million-plus US debut, the lowest in the franchise but easily enough to chase the competition off the road and win the weekend. The other big headline is Tupac Shakur biopic “All Eyez on Me”, which is doing far better than expected for a likely $30 million-plus launch in the US.

“Cars 3” grossed $19.5 million Friday after nabbing an A CinemaScore — the eighth consecutive Pixar release to do so. The film, directed by Brian Fee, will wrest the weekend crown from holdover “Wonder Woman”, which is projected to earn $39 million in its third week for a domestic total of nearly $275 million. On Friday, Wonder Woman soared past the $500 million mark globally.

The “Cars” threequel follows the legendary Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) as he's pushed out of the sport he loves by a new generation of blazing-fast racers. He enlists the help of a young race technician (voice of Cristela Alonzo) to help him get back in the game.

Lionsgate's Codeblack Films is releasing director Benny Boom's “All Eyez on Me”, which is hitting theatres on what would have been the late hip-hop icon's 46th birthday. Named after Shakur's fourth studio album, the movie includes over a dozen songs from his music catalogue.

The biopic, starring Demetrius Shipp Jr., earned $12.8 million Friday, as audiences bestowed the film with an A- CinemaScore. The cast also includes Kat Graham, who plays Jada Pinkett-Smith, who was close to Shukar. Pinkett-Smith slammed the movie as “deeply hurtful.”

Tom Cruise's “The Mummy” will follow at the fourth spot for the weekend with an estimated $14 million for a domestic total of $56 million-plus through Sunday.

The news is rough for Sony's raunchy female comedy, “Rough Night”. The movie grossed a muted $3.3 million Friday for a projected $8 million-plus weekend. The $20 million movie stars Scarlett Johansson, Ilana Glazer, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell and Zoe Kravitz as a group of friends who gather for a weekend-long bachelorette bash. Lucia Aniello directed the film.

“Rough Night” looks to be beat by independent shark thriller “47 Meters Down”, starring Mandy Moore and Claire Holt. The film is swimming toward an $11 million-plus domestic launch after grossing $4.5 million on Friday.

Source: THR