‘The Heat’ Crushing ‘White House Down’ At The Weekend Box Office

The Heat is having a great opening weekend compared to the disappointing showing for White House Down say early reports.

Paul Feig’s action-comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, The Heat is off to an impressive start at the Northern American box office grossing $13.6 million on Friday with a projected $39 million for the weekend.

The predictions for both The Heat and White House Down were in the $30 million ballpark according to THR, but it seems that not even Channing Tatum and Jamie Fox will be able to help the action movie.

Directed by Roland Emmerich’s White House Down Sony’s $150 million dollar film only took in a dismal $9 million on Friday.

Predictions put Brad Pitt’s movie World War Z ahead of Tatum’s film for the No. 3 spot this weekend.

Experts are blaming the close release of the earlier movie Olympus Has Fallen, about a terrorist attack on the White House, for Sony’s poor showing.

However both The Heat and White House Down earned an A- CinemaScore from movie goers on Friday.

The McCarthy and Feig team has, once again, scored big at the box office. They previously worked together on Bridesmaids. The addition of Sandra Bullock to the mix most likely helped the film’s successful opening.

With the modest budget of $43 million for production The Heat tells the story of uptight FBI special agent Sarah Ashburn (Bullock) and her partner, Boston cop Shannon Mullins (McCarthy) and their quest to take down a ruthless drug lord.

The twist is that neither woman has ever had a partner, or a friend before.

In White House Down Channing Tatum is on a tour of the White House with his young daughter and springs into action to save his child and protect the president from an attack.

The only hope for Tatum’s movie is that it dramatically increases the number of moviegoers this weekend or does well in the overseas market.

The Heat is a Twentieth Century Fox production.

[Image via carrie-nelson / Shutterstock.com]