'Dream House,' '50/50' vie at weekend B.O.

Frederick Gordon-Levitt stars in '50/50.''Dream House''Courageous'Bizzers expect domestic box office to become a rehash of last weekend -- however with a lesser bar. Disney's two-week three dimensional champion "The Lion King" vies for Stateside boasting privileges, again facing two key new records, Summit's "50/50" and Universal's "Dream House." Another wide release, twentieth century Fox's "What's Your Number?," might not even achieve a double-digit opening. But soph-sesh holdovers "Moneyball" and "Dolphin Tale" are also within the running, for the way well the happy couple holds. The weekend's top-monitoring films will not score anywhere near $20 million rather, B.O. commentators say it's more likely that individuals photos will range from $12 million and $14 million for that weekend. Overseas B.O. could have a familiar feel too. "The Smurfs," which entered $500 million in worldwide grosses last weekend, could continue its worldwide energy play, since couple of day-and-date releases appear broad enough to win overall. "Abduction" first showed last weekend with $6.5 million from 28 marketplaces and grows in the soph sesh to marketplaces like France, Mexico and also the U.K. As the second notable overseas entry, Fox Intl.'s Indian pic "Pressure," bows in eight areas mostly in the centre East, in addition to Australia and Blighty. Fox Intl. and Fox Searchlight are co-handling the pic's domestic debut, set to produce today at 58 locations. Sony's belief-based pic "Courageous" can be interesting locally. "Courageous," which launches in an aggressive 1,161 locations, obtained Wednesday's greatest share of advanced ticket sales at 22%, and it has already collected $two million in pre-sales. The studio is expecting the film, allocated for approximately $two million, will land within the $5 million-$six million range through Sunday. "The Lion King," together with Sony's "Moneyball" and Warner Bros.' "Dolphin Tale," are required to keep well, given heated aud interest. Last weekend, "Moneyball" bowed to $19.5 million, adopted carefully by "Dolphin Tale" with $19.two million. A 30% drop a few days ago would not be unthinkable for "The Lion King" -- pic, in the end, dropped just 27% in the second outing -- while "Moneyball" often see an identical soph-sesh drop as "The Social Networking," which fell 31%, putting "Moneyball" around $13 million for that weekend. Though Disney initially marketed "The Lion King" like a two-week only engagement, a button really elevated the pic's quantity of domestic playdates, up 10 for any total 2,340. Between "50/50" and "Dream House," the first kind will have a slight edge, thinking about it attracts a larger demo ("Dream House," from Morgan Creek, appeals better to femmes). "50/50," which cost $8 million, should draw fans of stars Frederick Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, having a potentially significant Friday-Saturday pop according to strong reviews and word-of-mouth. "Dream House" will attract thriller fans but faces a greater target on its route to profitability, by having an believed budget within the low-$50 millions. Fox's "What's Your Number?", starring Anna Faris and Chris Evans, has limited interest, the most powerful demo being over-25 women. In limited release, The new sony Pictures Classics' mental drama "Take Shelter" bows at three locations in NY and L.A., while Fox Searchlight's lengthy-postponed "Margaret," from helmer Kenneth Lonergan, opens at two. Relativity Media's "Machine Gun Preacher" grows to 33 playdates Sundance Selects' gay-designed drama "Weekend" increases to 6. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com