Saturday Update

Adam Sandler and Kevin James ruled the box office on Friday with their new comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, but will face a strong challenge for the number one spot for the entire weekend span. The Universal release opened to an estimated $12.4M in its first day of release which was slightly weaker than the opening day tallies of Sandler's last two films Click ($14.6M in June 2006) and The Longest Yard ($15.7M in May 2005). Chuck and Larry should laugh up around $32-35M over the Friday-to-Sunday period.

Not far behind was the musical Hairspray which bowed to an estimated $10.9M on Friday in its first day in multiplexes. The New Line release might be on its way to collecting $28-31M over the weekend giving John Travolta his second big hit of the year. In the spring, his motorcycle comedy Wild Hogs debuted to a $11.6M Friday and a $39.7M opening weekend on its way to a potent $167.7M gross to date.

Last weekend's champ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix took in an estimated $10.3M on Friday plunging 60% from the week before. For the Friday-to-Sunday period, the newest wizard pic should gross $32-35M putting it in the same range as Chuck and Larry making it a tight race for the box office crown this weekend.

Official studio estimates to be released on Sunday will give a better indication of the winner, however final weekend grosses to be released on Monday will determine the true leader of the pack.

For a NEW review of I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Sunday for a complete wrapup of the weekend box office.

Last Updated: July 21, 2007 at 2:00PM ET

Written by Gitesh Pandya