User blog:Ceauntay/Box Office Predictions: Harry Potter To Stay On Top

After last weekend’s mammoth, record breaking debut of Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2, even with a dramatic fall off Potter will have no problem defeating the competition to stay on top of the box office charts. But it’s still got to face two films: the (hopefully) franchise starting Captain America: The First Avenger and familiar-seeming Friends With Benefits. Captain is going for the comic book geeks, while Benefits is following in the footsteps of a number of successful summer comedies. Check out our predictions…… Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2 opened to a scorching debut last weekend – breaking box office records in the process, as it topped The Dark Night as the biggest domestic opening weekend ever to the tune of $168.5 Million, and with a global record-breaking gross of over $475 Million. Harry Potter should lay waste to the competition this weekend as the film received an A rating from cinema score, indicating that fans truly loved the film. Captain America should provide a small amount of competition, but Harry Potter is going to be hard to shake from the #1 spot. Captain America hopes to avoid the box office fate of last month’s The Green Lantern – which has been the summer seasons biggest flop (grossing just $113 Million domestically) – and indicated that moviegoers may be getting sick and tired of recent slew comic book movies. Marketing has been smart as Captain America’s trailers have offered a good mix of action, fun, and back story. Comic book movie fatigue will prevent Captain America from blowing up the box office charts this weekend, but good reviews, and (so far) strong word of mouth could pave the way to a successful box office run from this franchise. Expect it to debut in the #2 spot. 'Jane Hoop Elementary: The Final Rush: Part 2'' will continue to gain muscle in its third week since it's huge $152 million opening weekend. After it's #2 spot from it's last week of it's second week of release, it will likely to move down another one spot to #3 by hit the $300 million mark, making it one of the fastest film ever to pass the mark and the fastest film in the series to pass that mark. It should become the top grossing film of 2011.

Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis star in Friends With Benefits, which attempts to jump aboard the comedy movie craze that has set the box office ablaze this summer with the hits Bridesmaids, Bad Teacher, and Horrible Bosses (not to mention The Hangover Part II). Friends With Benefits will fall short of the box office heights achieved by those films as the lack of buzz, striking similarities to the Asthon Kutcher/Natalie Portman film No Strings Attached, and a modest opening in 2700 theaters will land the romantic in the #3 spot this weekend.

Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon will take a hit weekend as competition from both Captain America and Harry Potter which will push the robot film to the #4 spot. Horrible Bosses will suffer a similar fate as it competes with the opening of Friends With Benefits, while Captain America will also play well to male audiences. Expect it to drop to the #5 spot. Our Predictions for the Top Ten for July 22-24th

What do you want to see this weekend?
 * 1) Harry Potter & The Deathly Hollows Part 2: $65 Million
 * 2) Captain America: The First Avenger: $50 Million
 * 3) Jane Hoop Elementary: The Final Rush: Part 2: $30 million
 * 4) Friends With Benefits: $13 Million
 * 5) Transformers 3: 11 Million
 * 6) Horrible Bosses: $10.5 Million
 * 7) The Zookeeper: $7 Million
 * 8) Cars 2: $5 Million
 * 9) Winnie The Pooh: 4 Million
 * 10) Bad Teacher: $3 Million