While many wondered whether the opportune time had passed to capitalize on the massive success of 2006’s 300 with a sequel, it appears that a sizable audience for the franchise still exists.  300: Rise of an Empire earned an impressive $17.7 million on Friday, and while that won’t come close to 300’s insane $70 million weekend, it should be enough to hit a solid $40-$45 million for the weekend.  Again, that’s a notable feat given the large time gap in between the original film and the pic’s R-rating, but it was no doubt given a boost by 3D ticket prices.  The other new wide release of the weekend was DreamWorks Animation’s Mr. Peabody & Sherman, which debuted with $8 million on Friday and is on track for a modest $30 million weekend.  DreamWorks has been pretty hit and miss at the box office lately, but Peabody and Sherman looks to fall somewhere in between.

On the returning films front, Non-Stop dipped 54% in its second week and took in $4.6 million on Friday, while the Biblical saga Son of God saw a large 70% drop from its opening weekend to a $3.2 million take on Friday.

It is not often that there is more interest in the film that places second than in the film that comes out on top of the box office, but that is the case this morning with new releases Non-Stop and Son of God.  Although Friday night estimates put the Liam Neeson thriller on top, all eyes are on the biblical upstart.  Son of God was expected to bring in around $15 million in its first three days – a huge win for a film that is basically last year’s TV miniseries The Bible repurposed for the big screen.  But that was before the movie pulled in an astonishing $1.2 million from Thursday night screenings.  Just for context, that is close to what the hit Bad Grandpa earned from its own pre-release previews last October, although it’s hard to imagine Son of God’s audience sharing much else with the Jackass crowd.

Even with official estimates for Non-Stop and Son of God so close on Friday, weekend projections still fall in the former’s favor.  The thriller is now expected to bring in close to $30 million through Sunday, with Son of God a close second with $29 million.  Could the religious feature pull out the win?  Safe to say that stranger things have happened.

Two new action-oriented titles hit domestic theatres on Friday, though neither of them had the muscle to knock down The LEGO Movie.  The Warner Bros. hit will claim its third consecutive first place finish this weekend with a projected take of $30 million.  In terms of new titles, 3 Days to Kill was in the best shape.  The latest thriller from Taken producer Luc Besson opened in second place with an estimated $4 million from 2,872 locations, putting 3 Days on track for around $12 million through Sunday.

The news for Pompeii was not as promising.  The historical disaster pic from director Paul WS Anderson brought in an estimated $3.4 million from 2,658 locations (many of those in 3D and other large formats) on Friday.  Even with its price-point advantage, Pompeii is facing an opening weekend just shy of $10 million.  That’s a bit higher than The Legend of Hercules brought in from its January debut, but not quite the $15 million that producers were hoping for.  We’ll have complete box office coverage tomorrow.

Severe weather may have kept Sony’s Robocop remake down to $2.8 million on its Wednesday debut, but the domestic box office rebounded in time for Valentine’s Day on Friday.  With one massive holdover and four new releases, this should be one of the biggest President’s Day holidays since 2010 – the last time that February 14^th  landed on a weekend.  The date proved an asset for Universal’s Endless Love, which narrowly beat out Robocop for third place with an estimated $7.3 million.  About Last Night, the romantic comedy reboot starring Kevin Hart, had an even bigger debut: taking in $13 million from 2,253 locations, or just short of first place.  Warner Bros.’ romantic drama Winter’s Tale was not as fortunate, opening in seventh place with $3.65 million.

Even with all the competition, The LEGO Movie will have no trouble holding on to the top spot for a second week.  The animated hit is expected to earn another $45 million this weekend and a total of $60 million for the four-day holiday.  About Last Night will stay in second place with about $35 million through Sunday, with Endless Love and Robocop both projected to come in below $20 million.  We’ll have full details tomorrow.

This year’s Super Bowl box office will be even more muted than usual, which is good news for a handful of holdovers.  Ride Along took first place on Friday with $4 million and is now poised for a third straight box office victory.  The Universal comedy should bring in about $12 million this weekend, an indication of how soft this year’s Super Bowl weekend looks.

The highest-grossing new release, That Awkward Moment, was a very close second yesterday, and is expected to earn approximately $10 million through Sunday.  That’s positively robust compared to Labor Day, the frame’s second new title.  The Jason Reitman  release earned just $1.93 million on its first day in 2,589 locations and should end the weekend in the $5 million range.  Finally, after an incredible ten weeks in the top five, Frozen is still going strong.  Thanks to a new sing-a-long version of the film, which hit 2,000-plus venues on Friday, Disney’s massive holiday hit should add another $9 million to its domestic total by Sunday.

After it’s record-breaking debut last weekend, Ride Along will have no trouble staying in first place in its sophomore frame.  The Universal comedy earned an estimated $6.3 million from 2,759 locations on Friday and is expected to take in over $20 million through Sunday.  Second place will also belong to Universal, as Lone Survivor continues to over perform entering its third frame.

The fact that two holdovers are on top should clue you in to the fate of the week’s one and only new release: I, Frankenstein.  The latest take on Mary Shelley’s monster is from the producers of Underworld – a series that found a comfortable home in January with its last three features.  From 2,753 venues (almost all of them in higher-priced 3D or IMAX formats), I, Frankenstein earned an estimated $2.8 million on Friday.  That sets the film’s weekend outlook at $8 million or under, or less than half what Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters brought in at this time last year.  We’ll have complete box office details tomorrow.

On this very crowded MLK Day weekend, Ride Along is by far the strongest new title.  The comedy took first place on Friday with an estimated $14.5 million and is now expected to pull in $39 million through Sunday and $45 million for the four-day holiday.  That’s significantly higher than projected and puts the Universal comedy in the running for both the all-time January and MLK Day opening records.  At the moment, both titles still belong to 2008’s Cloverfield.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit opened in third place on Friday with an estimated $5.43 million.  That’s a disappointing start for Paramount’s latest take on the Tom Clancy hero, which was expected to top $20 million in its first three days.  Instead, look for Shadow Recruit to come in with just under that by the end of the four-day weekend.  Devil’s Due took in an estimated $3.5 million yesterday.  The supernatural horror film was expected to hit $15 million through Monday, but $9 million now seems more likely.  Finally, The Nut Job earned $4.8 million on Friday, towards what looks like $25 million in four days.  Should this critically-savaged animated film come out that far ahead of Jack Ryan, it would mark quite an upset – differing demographics notwithstanding.

Of the five movies opening nationwide as of Friday, only one was brand new – and it’s looking like a bit of a weakling.  The Legend of Hercules, the first of two movies this year to star the mythic strong man, opened to a disappointing $3 million from 2,104 locations.  That means that Hercules is likely to fall short of its (very modest) $10 million goal this weekend.  Considering Hercules is currently rocking a 2% on Rotten Tomatoes, however, things could be worse for the son of Zeus.

Among the four titles expanding their runs this weekend, the clear winner is Lone Survivor.  After two weeks in two locations, Universal’s military drama took in an estimated $14.4 million from 2,876 locations on Friday.  That puts Lone Survivor on track for first place with about $34 million this weekend.  That’s well above the $24 million originally projected and tops the $24.4 million that Zero Dark Thirty realized after its nationwide expansion at this time last year.

Friday numbers for Her and August: Osage County after the jump:

We’ve seen five new releases in three last three days, but not one of them are playing for first place this weekend.  In fact, only one of them made it into Friday’s top five (The Wolf of Wall Street), and two of them missed the top ten altogether.  The real action this weekend is between blockbuster holdovers The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Frozen.  Estimates put Disney in front on Friday, though it looks like Bilbo may still be able to pull off a third weekend on top of the domestic box office.  Here’s a look at the top ten, as of Friday’s estimates.

Details after the jump.

Tis’ the season of plenty at the box office.  At least eight major titles will open or expand in the seven days before Christmas, with Anchorman 2: The Legend of Ron Burgundy kicking off the festivities last Wednesday.  I’m sure you know by now that Paramount’s sequel is kind of a big deal.  So it made sense that Anchorman 2 got the win on Friday, taking in an estimated $8.7 million from 3,507 locations.  That puts Ron Burgundy on track for about $29 million for the three-day weekend: on par with the original Anchorman’s $28.4 million launch in July 2004.

But that won’t be enough to knock Bilbo off of his weekend throne.  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug earned an estimated $8.6 million on Friday, and is expected to pull in over $31 million on its sophomore frame.  After earning one of the highest per-screen averages of all-time with its limited launch last weekend, American Hustle claimed an estimated $5.1 million after expanding its run to 2,507 venues.  Also expanding on Friday after its (slightly less impressive) limited bow last week, Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks brought in almost $3 million on its first day in 2,110 locations – well ahead of the $2.1 million Fox’s Walking With Dinosaurs realized from its first day in 3,231 venues.   We’ll have complete details on the weekend box office tomorrow.

The second film in Peter’s Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy will open lower than its predecessor, as expected.  The Desolation of Smaug took in an estimated $31.1 million from 3,903 locations on Friday, including $8.8 million from midnight previews.  That puts the sequel on track for around $75 million this weekend.  At this time last year, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey took in $37.1 million on Friday and $84 million in its first three days – a record for a December launch.  Few expected the second film to equal those numbers, so a debut of $75 million should be enough to avoid the ‘disappointing’ label.

Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas will have to shoulder this weekend’s disappointment all on its own.  The fifth film featuring the popular Perry character took in an estimated $5.7 million on Friday, on its way to a first weekend total of $17 million.  That would make Christmas the first Madea film to open below $25 million, not to mention one of the lower openings of Tyler Perry’s career.  We’ll have complete details tomorrow

After the record-breaking feast audiences enjoyed over the Thanksgiving holiday, this weekend will look a bit stingy by comparison.  Traditionally one of the slower frames of the year, this weekend will come down to a showdown between major holdovers The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Frozen.  Catching Fire had the edge on Friday, adding an estimated $7.7 million to its domestic total.  Frozen should pull ahead on the weekend chart, however.  The Disney hit is projected to pull in about $30 million on its sophomore frame, compared to Katniss’s $28 million.

Yesterday brought only one fresh wide release: Relativity’s Out of the Furnace.  The R-rated thriller took in an estimated $1.8 million from 2,001 locations on Friday after posting an uninspiring $27,076 from four locations on Wednesday and Thursday.  Compare that to the $123,340 that Inside Llewyn Davis claimed from its four locations on Friday.  On its first day in theatres, the latest from Joel and Ethan Coen averaged almost $31,000 per screen for one of the best limited debuts in recent memory.  We’ll have complete details tomorrow.

It looks like this year’s Thanksgiving box office will be a record breaker on multiple fronts.  Both The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Frozen are now on pace to top $90 million by Sunday, besting a five-day holiday high set by the first Harry Potter film in 2001.  Catching Fire burned brightest on Black Friday: bringing in an estimated $31.2 million, or a decline of just 56% from its opening day.  The sequel has earned more than $253 million domestically and is currently tracking ahead of Iron Man 3  after eight days in theatres.

Black Friday was also profitable for Frozen.  Disney’s animated feature took in an estimated $26.8 million yesterday and is now expected to earn $67 million for the three-day weekend, or about what Tangled took in over five days during the 2010 Thanksgiving frame.  The outlook is not as promising for the week’s other new releases.  Homefront placed sixth on Friday with just $2.6 million and is not expected to exceed $10 million in its first five days.  Even so, the week’s top two films appear strong enough to drive overall grosses past $291 million and a new domestic record for the long Thanksgiving holiday.

On its first day in 4,136 locations, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire took in an estimated $70.5 million, including $25.25 million from its Thursday night previews.  That is higher than the $67.2 million The Hunger Games earned from its opening in March 2012 as well as the $68.8 million of Iron Man 3.  For weeks, those two films have guided weekend projections for Catching Fire, with the sequel expected to land somewhere between the $152.5 million of its predecessor and the $176.1 million of IM3.

This morning, however, expectations have been scaled back a bit.  Catching Fire is now targeting a more modest $152 million through Sunday, or about $15 million less than originally expected.  Of course, anything above $142.8 million would still be enough to strip The Twilight Saga: New Moon of its record for the biggest November opening of all time.  But, considering that it has been an article of faith that the sequel would top its predecessor, the fact that that is now in doubt qualifies as a surprise.  Check back tomorrow to see how it all plays out.

One week after Thor: The Dark World stormed the domestic box office, the God of Thunder is facing some unexpected competition from The Best Man Holiday. In a surprise finish, Universal’s ensemble dramedy edged out Thor 2 for Friday’s top spot by just over $200,000. The Dark World is still expected to retain its crown with a projected $37 million this weekend, though the surprising draw of The Best Man Holiday may render Thor’s hold a little less impressive than anticipated.

Thanks to some last minute schedule changes, The Best Man Holiday was Friday’s only new wide release. The sequel to the 1999 sleeper-hit The Best Man, Holiday earned an estimated $10.7 million from 2,024 locations on its first day in theatres. That puts the Universal release on track for about $31 million by Sunday, or nearly double the studio’s own projection. We’ll have complete details tomorrow.