Box office update: 'Monsters University' and 'The Heat' crush 'White House Down' on Friday

Box office update: 'Monsters University' and 'The Heat' crush 'White House Down' on Friday

Monsters University held on to first place with $14.3 million yesterday, putting it on pace for a $49 million second weekend.

The Heat was a very close second with $13.6 million. The Heat will come close to $40 million for the weekend, slightly ahead of estimates.

"In such a competitive marketplace, White House Down got off to a very discouraging start. Since its debut at 7 p.m. on Thursday, the $150 million Channing Tatum/Jamie Foxx action film has earned only $9 million, and it may have to settle for a sad $25 million opening weekend. That would be just half of the $50.2 million that Roland Emmerich’s other White House destruction film, Independence Day, garnered on its opening weekend in 1996. It would also be a big step below the $30.4 million debut of Olympus Has Fallen, this year’s remarkably similar White House action film, which ultimately grossed $98.7 million against a $70 million budget."