Tron: Legacy grosses $18 million in first day.

Not much to report that can't wait for tomorrow when the weekend numbers are announced, but Tron: Legacy opened with $18 million on its first full day. That's a bit above the $14 million opening Fridays for Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring and King Kong, slightly below the $19 million opening Friday of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but far below the $21 million Friday of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Of course, all the noted films opened on Wednesday. In terms of films that opened on this weekend on a Friday, it's well below the $26 million scored by Avatar and the $30 million snagged by I Am Legend, but it's above the $10 million opening-day gross of Lemony Snicket: A Serious of Unfortunate Events. 20% of its first-day take came from midnight screenings. That's a bit high, as 15% is the norm, but it's not anywhere near the sky-high midnight grabs for Paranormal Activity 2 ($6.3m/$19m - 33%), Twilight Saga: New Moon ($26m/$72m - 36%), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($22m/$58m - 37%), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part I ($24m/$61m - 39%), or Twilight Saga: Eclipse ($30m/$68m - 44%). So unless the world at large hates the movie as much as I do (who knows... I thought Transformers 2 would get kneecapped over the long weekend), give the film a 2.5x multiplier and a $45 million opening weekend.

Scott Mendelson