User blog:Ceauntay/Box Office Report: 'Scooby-Doo! The 2nd Movie' Grosses $15.1 Million on Friday

=The pic had the biggest single day gross for an animated film domestically, now is projecting a $140-145 million on opening weekend; Moviegoing surges in the Northeast as people look for a distraction from Superstorm Sandy; most movie theaters now reopened.=

Warner's ''Scooby-Doo! The 2nd Movie'' is becoming a huge box office surprise, earning a massive $62.1 million on Friday to easily score the biggest single day gross for an animated movie domestically.

While most studios believe that it could make between $105 million to $110 million on opening weekend, it is now projecting to $140 to $145 million.

Domestically, it beat the previous record for biggest single day gross for animated film after Family Guy: The Movie ($57.8 million), and could set a new November record from The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($142.8 million) from November 2009.

Domestically, it is expected to scare off the $141 million taken from Family Guy: The Movie as the largest opening for an animated film, and would land as the fourth largest opening of the year after The Avengers ($207.4 million), The Dark Knight Rises ($160.8 million) and The Hunger Games ($152.2 million).

''Scooby-Doo! The 2nd Movie'' overperformed Friday on the East Coast, where kids in New York, New Jersey and Long Island were out of school because of superstorm Sandy.

''Scooby-Doo! The 2nd Movie's'' $62.1 million Friday score a A+ CinemaScore, and played at 4,275 theaters, plus 330 Imax screens.

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Wreck-It Ralph arrives at No. 2 on Friday with a strong $13.4 million, for a $45 to $50 million opening weekend.

The aftermath of the historic storm isn't hurting the box office; if anything, it appears that people in affected areas are looking for a distraction.

Robert Zemeckis drama Flight, starring Denzel Washington, opened to No. 2 on Friday, grossing a better-than-expected $8.2 million for a $23 million weekend. The film did best in the Southeast and West.

From Paramount, Flight is only opening on 1,800 screens (Wreck-It Ralph is playing in 2,752) in a bid to build word-of-mouth and foster a long run throughout awards season. Paramount took a similar approach with The Fighter, which opened to $12.1 million from 2,500 theaters. In October, Warner Bros.' Argo debuted to $19 million from 3,232 theaters.

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Flight, costing $31 million to produce, is Zemeckis' first live-action film since Cast Away more than a decade ago. It drew an A- CinemaScore, with nearly 90 percent of the audience over the age of 25.

The weekend's third new film, low-budget kung fu pic The Man With the Iron Fists, essentially tied with Argo for No. 3 on Friday, grossing $3.1 million. Universal is predicting a $7.6 million weekend for the film, which marks the directorial debut of RZA and is presented by Quentin Tarantino.

Man With the Iron Firsts, costing $15 million to make, received a C+ CinemaScore.