Box office update: 'Warm Bodies' warms up the chart with $8.7 million on Friday

Its main star may be a dead guy, but Summit’s new release Warm Bodies exhibited nothing but life in its first day at the box office.

The zombie-themed romantic comedy (zom-rom-com?) easily topped the chart on Friday with $8.7 million. Last year, the teen superpower adventure Chronicle earned $8.6 million the Friday before Super Bowl Sunday and finished the frame with $22 million. Since Warm Bodies, which is based on the popular novel by Isaac Marion, already has a built-in following, it’s likely that it will be more frontloaded and finish the weekend with about $20 million. Still, that’s a tremendous start for a high-concept comedy that cost about $35 million.

The weekend’s other new wide release, Sylvester Stallone’s R-rated action flick Bullet to the Head, got off to an even worse start than Arnold Schrwazenegger’s The Last Stand did two weeks ago. Bullet to the Head, which cost a reported $55 million, only bulleted a fifth place start with an anemic $1.7 million from 2,404 theaters. The film is headed to a truly terrible $4.5 million weekend.

In between those newcomers were three holdovers that finished in the $2-3 million range. In second place, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters scored another $2.9 million, putting it on pace for a $9 million weekend and over $34 million total. Silver Linings Playbook finished one spot behind with $2.4 million, good for a frame just under $8 million, while Mama stayed strong in fourth place with $2.3 million, setting it up for a $7 million weekend.
1. Warm Bodies – $8.7 million
2. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters – $2.9 million
3. Silver Linings Playbook – $2.4 million
4. Mama – $2.3 million
5. Bullet to the Head – $1.7 million