Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock's raunchy female cop comedy "The Heat" got off to a sizzling start Friday, June 28 finishing just behind reigning box-office champ "Monsters University" and easily outstripping the weekend's other wide opener "White House Down," TheWrap said.
Disney's animated Pixar family film still has the inside track after topping Friday with $14.3 million from 4,003 screens, the bulk of which are 3D. With families expected to turn out in force on Saturday and Sunday, the G-rated "Monsters U" should come in at around $47 million for the three days. That would be a very strong hold — just a 42 percent drop from its opening weekend– for the "Monsters Inc." prequel, which has taken in nearly $140 million domestically in a little more than a week.
Fox's "The Heat" is the summer's first – and only – big movie with female leads. It rang up $13.6 million from 3,181 theaters Friday and is on pace for a weekend in the $40 million range. That's about $5 million more than analysts had projected for the R-rated caper comedy and would top the debut of McCarthy's "Identity Thief," which debuted to $34 million in February.
"The Heat" is also pacing ahead of "Bridesmaids," the similarly raunchy comedy that also featured director Paul Feig and McCarthy. That one opened to $26 million and went on to make $169 million domestically.
Sony's "White House Down" was running fourth, just behind "World War Z" and ahead of "Man of Steel."
Both the PG-13 rated "White House Down" and "The Heat" received "A-" CinemaScores from first-night audiences.
