After setting a new record for a March animated release last weekend, Zootopia is coasting towards a second consecutive box office title. The Disney release brought in an estimated $12 million on Friday, bringing its eight-day domestic total to $104.6 million. That’s 13% ahead of where Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (the previous March animated title holder) stood at the same point in its run back in 2012. Zootopia is now expected to top $50 million in its sophomore frame, down just 33% from its debut.

Among this weekend’s new releases, the most closely watched is 10 Cloverfield Lane – a movie few people knew existed until its trailer showed up attached to 13 Hours in January. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg and produced by J.J. Abrams, 10 Cloverfield Lane has been described as a “blood relative” to Abrams’ disaster pic Cloverfield rather than a straight sequel. You may recall that Cloverfield was a big hit when it opened in January 2008, taking in $40 million in its first three days – a record opening at the time.

Eight years later, 10 Cloverfield Lane was not expected to open as high as its predecessor, though it should easily beat Paramount’s low bar projection of $18 million. The film, which received a B- from CinemaScore audiences, took in an estimated $9 million on Friday. That suggests a debut of almost $25 million, which is a solid start for a movie that was on nobody’s radar two months ago.

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Along with 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Brothers Grimsby has also been much discussed in the past week. The latest R-rated comedy from Sacha Baron Cohen, Grimsby has seemed like a slow-motion box office disaster in the waiting from the start. Marketing for the film was spotty, and Grimsby’s poor U.K. showing (it’s made $5 million in just under two weeks) was seen as a bad omen. This from the man who brought us Borat, the box office phenomenon that took in $261.5 million worldwide from a budget of just $18 million in 2006.

But The Brothers Grimsby was never going to be another Borat. In fact, it was expected to bring Baron Cohen the lowest box office opening of his career with just under $10 million. This morning, that projection looks wildly optimistic. On its first day in theatres, Grimsby earned an estimated $1.2 million from 2,235 locations. That put it in eighth place on Friday’s chart and indicates that a $4 million launch is about the best that Sony and its star can expect.

The Perfect Match took fifth place on Friday with an estimated $1.5 million from 925 locations. The R-rated romantic comedy from Lionsgate is now targeting the same $4 million weekend opening as Grimsby, though with a much lower theatre count. Friday’s final new release was The Young Messiah, from Focus Features. The faith-based drama opened in sixth place with an estimated $1.3 million from 1,761 locations and should bring in $3.5 million through Sunday. We’ll have full details on the weekend box office tomorrow.

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Here’s Friday’s top six films, based on studio estimates:

 

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