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Hollywood Box Office has Hansel and Gretel in Front

Box Office Report: ‘Hansel and Gretel’ Headed for # 1, takes $500,000 at Midnight Showings

The R-rated version of the classic fairy tale stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the famous siblings; fellow new entries “Parker” and “Movie 43″ battle it out with “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Silver Linings Playbook.”
Paramount and MGM’s R-rated Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is leading the Friday box office after scoring a healthy $500,000 a Thursday night showings.

The 3-D film rolled out at 2,000 + screens at 10 p. Thursday before expanding into a total of 3,372 locations Friday.

Based on Thursday night and early Friday grosses, box office observers expect the action-comedy, a violent rendition of the classic fairy tale that stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the famous siblings to gross $24 to 25-M on the weekend.

Hansel and Gretel, costs $50-M to produce is already a crowd pleaser overseas, where it opened in Russia last weekend, grossing $8-M + to place # 1.

The movie is 1 of 3 R-rated titles opening in North America this weekend.

The Jason Statham-Jennifer Lopez action-thriller Parker and irreverent sketch comedy Movie 43 featuring 1 of the most ambitious ensemble casts in history appear to be in a relatively close race with holdovers Zero Dark Thirty and Silver Linings Playbook, both look to gross in the $8 to 10-M range on the weekend.

Directed by Taylor Hackford, Parker is being distributed domestically by FilmDistrict.

The roster of stars appearing in Movie 43, the brainchild of Peter Farrelly, includes Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Emma Stone, Halle Berry, Gerard Butler and Naomi Watts. A raft of filmmakers and talent directed the various vignettes, including Elizabeth Banks, Brett Ratner, Griffin Dunne and Bob Odenkirk.

Relativity Media spent a modest $6 million to make Movie 43 and says it was a creative risk worth taking.