Pamela McClintock of THR:
Despite generally good reviews, Sony's Joseph Gordon-Levitt action film Premium Rush may not be able to scale the box office chart as the late summer doldrums strike.
Most box office observers believe holdover The Expendables 2 will win the weekend crown, while Premium Rush will battle it out for No. 2 with The Bourne Legacy.
Conservative estimates show Premium Rush earning in the $6 million to $8 million range. The film cost just north of $30 million to produce and is directed by noted screenwriter David Koepp, who co-wrote the script with John Kamps.
Premium Rush centers on a New York City bicycle messenger (Gordon-Levitt) who is pursued throughout the city by a dirty cop, played by Michael Shannon, who wants an envelope the messenger has. Gavin Palone produced.
Two other new features will compete for attention at the domestic box office -- quirky indie comedy Hit & Run and Dark Castle's supernatural thriller The Apparition, which Warner Bros. is distributing.
On the documentary front, anti-Barack Obama doc 2016: Obama's America expands nationwide on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. The film, distributed by Rocky Mountain Pictures, will be playing in a total of 1,091 theaters as of Friday. On Thursday, online ticket service Fandango reported that Obama's America was the top advance seller.
Hit & Run, from Open Road Films, opened Wednesday to build word of mouth heading into the weekend. The pic -- starring Dax Shepard, Kristin Bell, Bradley Cooper and Tom Arnold -- is expected to open in the $7.5 million to $8 million range after coming in No. 8 on Wednesday, earning a muted $625,000.
Directed by David Palmer and Shepard, Hit & Run is a romantic action comedy about a former getaway driver emerges from Witness Protection to help his girlfriend get to California.
Hit & Run was produced for under $2 million excluding a nationwide marketing spend.
Apparition, directed by Todd Lincoln and starring Twilight's Ashley Green, may not eke past $2 million in its debut.
New offerings at the specialty box office include director/producer Linda Goldstein Knowlton's acclaimed documentary Somewhere Between, about the wave of Chinese girls who were adopted and brought to the U.S. because of strict gender rules in China.
Somewhere Between, a festival favorite and winner of the jury prize at Hot Docs, opens at the IFC Center in New York on Friday before debuting in Los Angeles in mid-September.
Indie comedy Sleepwalk With Me, co-written by Ira Glass, also debuts at IFC Center this weekend.
I am rootin' for JGL and "Rush" to do better than expected.
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