Spy Starts With A Bang And Insidious 3 Off To Solid Start For The Weekend, While Entourage Heads Financially Downward

Melissa McCarthy better prepare for a great weekend, as her newest movie, Spy, got off to a great start at Thursday night screenings last night. Spy grossed $1.5 million last night, a 50% increase from the $1 million Thursday night grosses of McCarthy's 2013 vehicle The Heat, and a nearly 20% increase over the $1.3 million start for Tammy (it's hard to compare Spy's box office with that 2014 feature though, just because Tammy not only opened over a holiday weekend, but also opened on a Wednesday).



Since Spy started its Thursday night showings at 5 PM versus The Heat starting its Thursday screenings at 10 PM, it's no shocker that Spy made more cash, and it's unlikely to increase 50% over the Heats opening weekend to a $58.5 million bow. However, it does suggest a strong opening for the movie, and it actually has a strong shot of beating out The Heats opening weekend by a smaller margin.

The newest Insidious film made $1.55 million at Thursday night screenings last night, a solid haul that narrowly surpasses the $1.5 million gross Insidious: Chapter 2 made in its Thursday night haul in September 2013. That film managed to make $40 million over the whole weekend, though the summertime release date for Insidious: Chapter 3 (which allows teen moviegoers to see it on Thursday night without having to worry about school the next day) will certainly make it more frontloaded than its predecessor.

Two years ago, The Purge (the first movie to really start off this whole modern summertime horror movie craze) made $3.4 million in late night Thursday screenings on its way to a $34 million opening. Insidious: Chapter 3 had a much smaller gross on Thursday night, so it'll certainly be much less frontloaded, though frankly, these early numbers suggest a $30 million opening is highly unlikely. A $26-28 million opening feels more likely, a solid sum for a project that costs only $10 million.

Meanwhile, Entourage only made $2 million yesterday. Now, it'll have a huge increase on Friday, likely to a $4-4.5 million day to start off the weekend, but it's highly unlikely the film makes more than $15 million for its opening weekend and will be far south of $25 million for its first five days of release.