It looks like it’s going to be a tough weekend for new titles at the box office.  All three major releases came in lower than projected on Friday, which allowed holdovers Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Guardians of the Galaxy to hold on to their first and second place rankings.  The Expendables 3, the most notable newbie, earned an estimated $6.9 million on its first day in theatres.  That suggests an opening weekend of about $16 million, or less than half what the first Expendables earned from its debut back in August 2010.  Fox’s Let’s Be Cops came in fourth on Friday with $5.6 million.  The R-rated comedy opened early, on Wednesday, with $5.2 million and should end its first weekend with just under $15 million.  The Giver earned an estimated $4.7 million from 3,003 locations yesterday.  The adaptation of Lois Lowry’s novel, The Giver should bring in $13 million in its first three days.  That tops recent young adult adaptations including Beautiful Creatures and The Mortal Instruments, but that’s not saying much.

Details and Friday’s top five chart after the jump.

Bad news for new releases was good news for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Last weekend’s number one film took in an estimated $7.9 million on Friday, off by 69% from its first day in theatres.  That’s not a bad hold, all things considered.  Last month Transformers: Age of Extinction was off by 75% on its second Friday.  The Michael Bay-produced reboot has earned over $97 million in eight days and should pass $100 million on Saturday.

Guardians of the Galaxy passed the $200 million mark on Friday, its fifteenth day in theatres.  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes also crossed that important benchmark yesterday, though it took the sequel 36 days to get there.  Check back tomorrow for complete details and the weekend top ten.

 Title

Friday

Total

1.

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

$7,920,000

$97.1

2.

 Guardians of the Galaxy

$6,953,000

$204.5

3.

 The Expendables 3

$5,880,000

$5.8

4.

 Let’s be Cops

$5,625,000

$14

5.

 The Giver

$4,740,000

$4.7