Box office update: 'Immortals' slashes competition with $15 million Friday

Could it be? It looks like some Greek gods, a cross-dressing comedian, and a Spanish kitty cat are actually breathing life into the dismal box office!

Relativity’s Tarsem Singh-directed 3-swords-and-sandals action flick Immortals easily topped the box office on Friday, fighting its way to a better-than-expected $15 million. That puts the picture on pace for a $37 million weekend, about half of what 300 opened to in 2007. Still, considering the rut the box office has been in this fall, a $37 million debut is pretty impressive.

In second, Adam Sandler’s latest comedy Jack and Jill laughed up (actually, there probably wasn’t much laughing involved) $9.9 million on its first day. Sony’s Adam Sandler comedy could earn $27 million over the Friday-to-Sunday period, but considering his other films typically open in the $40 million range, Jack and Jill will have to work hard to join the $100 million club.

Puss in Boots finished in third with $9 million. The Shrek spin-off will lose some of its audience to the family-friendly Jack and Jill, but it still has a good shot at passing that picture and reaching second place. In all likelihood, it will earn a similar $27 million.

Brett Ratner’s terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad week gets just a slight bit better thanks to Tower Heist dropping by an alright 40 percent to $4.9 million on Friday. The Eddie Murphy/Ben Stiller comedy may fall by 35 percent for the weekend to $15 million, lifting Tower Heist’s total to $45.5 million.

Rounding out the top 5 is J. Edgar, which earned $4.3 million and looks like it’s headed for an opening right in the same range as Clint Eastwood’s last picture, Hereafter, which found $4.1 million on its first day of wide release and earned $12 million over the entire frame.

Check back tomorrow for the full box office report.

1. Immortals – $15 million

2. Jack and Jill – $9.9 mil

3. Puss in Boots – $9 mil

4. Tower Heist – $4.9 mil

5. J. Edgar – $4.3 mil

For more box office musings, follow me on Twitter: @EWGradySmith

• By Grady Smith @gradywsmith