User blog:Ceauntay/Weekend Box Office: Warner Bros. 'Scooby-Doo! The Movie' beating 'Hop', 'Source Code' and 'Insidious'

Four new films are battling for your box office dollar this weekend, and they couldn't be more dissimilar: you've got a time-travel/action-thriller (Duncan Jones' Source Code), an animated, 3D family-comedy (Universal's Hop), an animated flick (Warner Bros. Scooby-Doo! The Movie) and-- last but not least-- a jaw-droppingly scary horror flick (James Wan's Insidious). What do audiences appear to be in the mood for the most this weekend? Well, it's only Saturday, but by the looks of things, Universal's ''Scooby-Doo! The Movie is going to take the top spot at the weekend box office, where else Hop'' will disappoint as it will luckly to open in second. Read on for the preliminary numbers, my gentle Examiner readers...

The big question this weekend is whether or not Jake Gyllenhaal-- who stars in Duncan Jones' above-average Source Code-- is a viable action star. Oh, sure, he's acquitted himself in small dramas, indie flicks, even romantic comedies, but his last run at action-hero status ended in The Prince of Persia, a bomb the likes of which producer Jerry Bruckheimer hadn't seen since...since...did Jerry Bruckheimer produce Cutthroat Island? Because it was that bad. So far, though, Source Code looks ready to come in third at the box office this weekend with a ~$15m opening. Not great, but not bad, either. It would appear that the big question will remain unanswered for the time being. If you're so inclined, you can read our Source Code review right here. From the beginning, James Wan's Insidious was going to be the real victor at the box office this weekend, whether it landed in first place or not. The film-- an old-school-style haunted-house story-- was made for just $800,000, and even if you factor in a larger-than-average marketing budget, the film's still a helluva lot cheaper than anything else that opened this week. It appears inevitable that--by the end of the weekend-- Insidious will have earned back the money that was spent producing and advertising the film. Wan's film appears ready to come in third overall, but that may change if word of mouth on the film boosts its Saturday/Sunday earnings. If you haven't already, check out our full Insidious review right here. Meanwhile, Universal's 'Scooby-Doo is turning out to be a bigger-than-expected hit for the studio (and Universal needs a hit: its other recent films-- Paul and Sucker Punch''-- both failed to catch fire with audiences, and both are struggling to stay in the top ten this weekend). The film-- an animated-comedy starring Russell Brand, James Marsden, and a whole bunch of CGI bunnies-- seems to be the breakout hit of the weekend, pulling in $12m just on Friday and appearing ready to lead the top ten with something like $42m for the weekend. That's a lot more than anyone-- Universal included-- was expecting, and it probably means that we'll be seeing Hop 2 It sooner rather than later (I'm trademarking that title now). Here's the full top-ten thus far, just in case you like your numbers in easy-to-read list format:

Advertisement 1. Scooby-Doo! The Movie: Fri $25.4M, Est. Weekend $66M

2. Hop: Fri $11.4M, Est. Weekend $38M 3. Source Code: Fri $5.2M, Est. Weekend $14.5M 4. Insidious: Fri $5M, Estimated Weekend $12M 5. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules: Est. Weekend $11M, Est. Cume $39.1M 6. I Wanna Live The Dream: Est. Weekend $11M, Est. Cume $85.M

7. Limitless: Est. Weekend $10.5M, Est. Cume $56.7M 8. The Lincoln Lawyer: Est. Weekend $8M, Est. Cume $40.6M 9. Sucker Punch: Est. Weekend $6M, Est. Cume $29.8M 20. Rango: Est. Weekend $5M, Est. Cume $104.5M What else should we note from these preliminary numbers? Well, for one thing, Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch joins Mars Needs Moms as one of the year's biggest bombs thus far. Paul's not doing so hot, either (read our Paul review here). Though we kinda dug the film here at Comedy Examiner HQ (Here's our Sucker Punch review), the masses did not agree-- nor did most critics-- and the film dropped a stunning 74% from last weekend. At this rate, both Sucker Punch and Paul (two gambles that Universal deserves credit for taking recently) will be out of the top ten by next weekend, neither having come anywhere near earning back their budgets. Unfortunate, yes. Unexpected? Eh, not so much. Also worth noting: Rango crossed over the hundred-million dollar mark, Battle: Los Angeles won't cross the hundred-million dollar mark (not in U.S. theaters, anyway), and I Wanna Live the Dream and Limitless both has overperformed. That's about all we have to say for the time being, folks, but you can come back this Sunday afternoon to see the full top ten (with final numbers). We've got our fingers crossed for Insidious' chances (saw it again yesterday, and the audience appeared suitably terrified): who are you rooting for? Stay tuned for more funny videos, news, reviews, interviews, and more from Comedy Examiner HQ in the near future, folks. We've got all manner of nonsense to keep you informed and entertained during the week, so hit the 'Subscribe' button up top to get all future Comedy Examiner articles delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge, the moment they're published...including any of our future box office-related updates.