Hollywood Worries About Weak Box Office: Footloose #1, Real Steel #2, The Thing #3; Big Comics Bomb In The Big Year

FRIDAYPM/SATURDAY AM UPDATE: Seriously, do movie moguls get into showbiz just to greenlight unnecessary remakes of teen movies and horror movies or unfunny comedies that humiliate big stars like Friday’s film fare? Maybe that’s why audiences are rebelling. According to tonight’s estimates, my sources say the North American box office is looking very weak againfor this weekend. Asa longtime studio exec worried out loud to me tonight: “I’m really concerned about how soft things are. Numbers were looking better during the day. But I’m sitting here looking at grosses tonight and I’m concerned for the Industry. What’s worrying meis where are those hardcore movie fans at this point?” Well, I say Hollywood should expect the worst when they release a lot of dreadful pics over recent weeks.This weekend’s total gross won’t edge much over $80M — which is a whopping-35% from last year when Jackass 3D opened to $50M. (I know what you’re thinking: Who are the jackasses now?)This is not a good situation for the studios to be in as moviegoing enters the all-important holiday season. Full analysis coming: 1. Footloose (Paramount) NEW [3,549 Theaters] Friday$5.7M, Estimated Weekend$17M 2. Real Steel (DreamWorks/Disney) Week 2 [3,440 Theaters] Friday $4.6M (-46%), Estimated Weekend $16M, Estimated Cume $51.3M 3. The Thing (Universal) NEW [2,996 Theaters] Friday$3.5M, Estimated Weekend$9M 4. The Ides Of March (Sony) Week 2 [2,199 Theaters] Friday $2.3M (-31%), Estimated Weekend $7.5M, Estimated Cume $22.1M 5. The Dolphin Tale (Alcon/Warner Bros) Week 4 [3,286 Theaters] Friday $1.7M, Estimated Weekend $6.5M, Estimated Cume $59M 6. Moneyball (Sony) Week 4 [2,840 Theaters] Friday $1.4M, Estimated Weekend $5.5M, Estimated Cume $57.7M 7. 50/50 (Summit) Week 3[2,391 Theaters] Friday $1.4M, Estimated Weekend $4.5M, Estimated Cume $24.5M 8. The Big Year (Fox) NEW [2,150 Theaters] Friday $1.2M,Estimated Weekend$3M 9. Courageous (Sony) Week 3 [1,214 Theaters] Friday $1M, Estimated Weekend $3.3M, Estimated Cume $21.3M 10. Dream House (Universal) Week 3 [2,172 Theaters] Friday $825K, Estimated Weekend $2.5M, Estimated Cume$18.4M