Weekend Preview, Friday Edition: Pineapple Heading for Winning Weekend

August 8, 2008

There was a lot of doubt about where this weekend was headed when The Pineapple Express debuted on Wednesday. The Judd Apatow stable has produced some box office champions in the past, but its recent form has been mixed. Meanwhile, The Dark Knight continues to churn out records, and looks a decent bet to become only the second movie in history to top $500 million at the box office. So, while we gave Pineapple Express the nod as favorite to win the weekend, nothing seemed certain. Then Wednesday's box office figures arrived.

Pineapple Express' $12 million Wednesday opening leaves its the odds-on favoriate to win the weekend. Even a weak day-to-day performance should see the comedy top $30 million. Batman will likely have to settle for second place, and we're maintaining our prediction of $25 million. The gap between the two movies is small enough that a surprise fourth weekend win for Dark Knight is possible, so we'll be watching Thursday's and Friday's numbers with great interest.

Filed under: The Dark Knight, Pineapple Express