A low-budget indie flick with an interesting premise called The Purge is expected to sail past its competition at the box office this weekend and become something of a sleeper hit.
Though this weekend’s expected front-runner is the Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson film The Internship , experts are actually predicting that The Purge will win our wallets and earn double the opening weekend numbers of the Google comedy.
The Purge is described as a low-budget horror/thriller film, with early plaudits focusing on its interesting premise.
It stars Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey in a futuristic America where crime and unemployment are at all-time lows. The catch is that one night a year, all crime is legal, allowing Americans to “purge” their angry and violent feelings without repercussion.
That’s the backdrop. The plot follows Hawke’s attempts to keep his home and family from falling victim to a group of home invaders after a seeming act of compassion puts them all in danger.
Box Office Guru has been watching the progress of The Purge , noting its $3 million Thursday night opening.
The Los Angeles Times reports that The Internship will likely bow to The Purge , predicting a weekend gross between $12 million and $15 million for the comedy. The Purge is on track to double that.
Deadline notes that The Internship is even falling short of Now You See Me in online ticket sales.
Vaughn and Wilson’s last comedy together, 2005’s Wedding Crashers , earned $209 million in North America.
#ThePurge makes fantastic $3.4M THU night 10p on. More than AfterEarth NowYouSeeMe last THU combined. Big #1 wknd ahead.
— Gitesh Pandya (@giteshpandya) June 7, 2013
But we’ll let you decide. Below are the trailers for both The Purge and The Internship . Which one will you see this weekend? Also, check out our review of The Purge by Niki Cruz here .
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