‘Pain And Gain’ Tops The Box Office On Friday

Michael Bay’s crime flick Pain and Gain secured the top spot at the box office on Friday.

The director’s movie managed to bring in around $7.5 million on opening day. Analysts believe the film could make approximately $20 million over the weekend.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Mark Wahlberg star as a pair of bodybuilders who get wrapped up in an extortion plot. Since the guys aren’t exactly the sharpest when it comes to pulling such a scheme, they soon find themselves in way over their heads.

While a three-day total of $20 million for a Michael Bay movie seems low, it’s worth noting that the movie carried a production budget of approximately $26 million. The total may not be impressive when all is said and done, but the movie will be well on its way to recouping its cost.

As with most Michael Bay endeavors, critics have not been overwhelmingly impressed with Pain and Gain. Although most of the reviews acknowledge that the flick is change of pace for the director, this didn’t help win over many of the nation’s top critics.

The caper currently sports a Rotten Tomatoes score of 47 percent. According to the website’s scale, this means that Bay’s latest effort is considered “rotten.” The picture’s Metacritic rating isn’t much better; the movie has a score of 45 as of this writing.

Friday’s other new wide release, the Robert De Niro and Katherine Heigl comedy The Big Wedding, didn’t fare as well with audiences. The movie landed in fourth place on Friday with a box office total of $2.6 million. Analysts believe the flick will only earn around $8 million this weekend.

This film’s weak opening day total is surprising given the number of stars that are peppered throughout the comedy. In addition to De Niro and Heigl, the film stars Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Ben Barnes, Susan Sarandon, and Robin Williams.

Here is Friday’s top 10 based on studio estimates.

1. Pain and Gain – $7.5 million
2. Oblivion – $5.1 million
3. 42 – $3 million
4. The Big Wedding – $2.5 million
5. The Croods – $1.5 million
6. Scary Movie 5 – $1.1 million
7. G.I. Joe: Retaliation – $950,000
8. The Place Beyond the Pines – $750,000 (tie)
9. Olympus Has Fallen – $750,000 (tie)
10. Jurassic Park 3D – $650,000

Did you catch Michael Bay’s Pain and Gain in theaters on Friday?