SATURDAY AM UPDATE: What a crazy Friday.

First came that morning’s bomb scare phoned into the Carmike Cinema chain.

Then a consulting firm Screen Engine poll finds 17% of filmgoers are still reluctant to head to theaters, only slightly better than the 21% recorded four weeks ago right after the Aurora flick theater shooting.

(The surveys found that teenagers, particularly females, were most reluctant to go to the flick now.) At least there’s no more Olympics.

But post-10 PM screenings were still weak after I first reported the phenom last weekend.

The result is that domestic box office grosses were all over the place.

Matinee trends and early evening numbers were no longer a reliable predictor of Friday outcomes. When I saw weekend estimates swing from up to down nearly $10M in just a few hours, I waited for clarity which never came.

So last night’s numbers had to be revised downward this morning.

There are unusually good CinemaScores for the newcomers which will help word-of-mouth: Millenium/Lionsgate’s #1 flick The Expendables 2 snags ‘A-’ from audiences and better scoring reviews but still can’t beat the original’s $13.3M Friday/$34.8M weekend opening.

Sony’s #3 Sparkle gets an ‘A’, and Focus Features’ #4 Paranorman scores ‘B+’.

Add in strong holdovers The Bourne Legacy from Universal in #2 place and The Campaign from Warner Bros in #5 (both down only -53% from last weekend), and it’s a crowded but good $125M weekend – +5% from last ...... See Complete Article @ Deadline Hollywood