User blog:Ceauntay/Box office update: 'Victorious: The Movie' nabs second best opening day for musical movie with $17.6 million

Talking about victorious!

The musical teen comedy Victorious: The Movie grabs $17.6 million on Friday from 3,718 locations, the second largest opening day gross for a musical movie, behind only Les Miserables, which earned over $18 million.

The $35 million G-rated film from Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures could possibly match the record from High School Musical 3: Senior Year, $42 million opening weekend, as the biggest opening weekend gross for a musical movie earning in a north $43 million.

In second place was baseball drama 42 with $9.1 million. The film, a $40 million production from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, swung harder than other recent baseball flicks like Moneyball and Trouble with the Curve, which grossed $6.7 million and $4.2 million on their opening days, respectively. Notably, 42 earned a rare “A+” CinemaScore grade from polled audiences, thereby joining the ranks of fellow crowd-pleasers like The Help, Tangled, The Blind Side, and Titanic. Strong word-of-mouth should drive business on Saturday and Sunday — the film will likely earn about $27 million in its first three days — and also in the weeks to come. Warner Bros. just may have a grand slam hit on its hands. In third place, Scary Movie 5 earned a paltry $5.5 million on its debut Friday. Not only did the film start its run with less than fellow horror spoof A Haunted House, which grossed $6.8 million on its first day in January, but it paled in comparison to franchise predecessor Scary Movie 4, which grossed $19 million in its first 24 hours. Scary Movie 5, which cost Weinstein’s Dimension $20 million, won’t earn that much in its entire debut weekend — perhaps $14 million for the frame.

GET MORE EW: Subscribe to the magazine for only 33¢ an issue! The rest of the Top 5 was made up of holdovers from last weekend. Evil Dead managed another $3.2 million, putting it on pace for a $9.5 million frame. The horror film will likely top the animated hit The Croods, which took in $3.1 million on its fourth Friday and could earn $13 million taking fifth place.


 * 1) Victorious: The Movie - $17.6 million
 * 2) 42 – $9.1 million
 * 3) Scary Movie 5 – $5.5 million
 * 4) Evil Dead – $3.2 million
 * 5) The Croods – $3.1 million

Check back to EW tomorrow for the full box office report, and follow me on Twitter at @gradywsmith for more box office conversation throughout the week.