Friday Box Office Analysis (9/1)

Jason Statham?s action picture Crank topped the box office on Friday with $3.3 million, but is likely to be beaten out by Disney?s Invincible for the weekend. The Lions Gate release averaged an okay $1,298 per-screen from 2,515 theaters, which is about on par with the first Transporter (which opened to $3.0 million and averaged $1,185). For three days, Crank is likely to near if not top the performance of Cellular, which grossed $10.1 million, and should come in second to Invincible (with upwards of $10.5 million for Fri to Sun).

The Wicker Man failed to register on Friday, as the Nicolas Cage pic took in $2.7 million but could still crack $9 million for three days thanks to Labor Day on Monday. Potential for the Neil LaBute thriller was questionable considering the film has limited mainstream star-power (it averaged like Cage's Weather Man), but tracking for the film had been running smoothly.