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.