Box Office Report: 'Evil Dead' Doing Devilish Friday Business, Eyeing $25 Million Debut

Demons and dinosaurs -- plus a healthy dose of nostalgia -- are livening up the Friday box office as the remake of Sam Raimi's 1981 cult horror pic Evil Dead and the 3D rerelease of Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park both do better than expected.

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Evil Dead is expected to gross in the $12 million range Friday, including a healthy $1.8 million in Thursday night shows. The film, costing a modest $17 million to produce, is now expected to hit $25 million in its North American debut for Sony/TriStar, FilmDistrict and Raimi's Ghost House.

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It is the fourth Evil Dead title and the first not to be directed by Raimi, who personally tapped Fede Alvarez to direct the reboot, which follows five friends who awaken a demonic presence while visiting a cabin in rural Massachusetts. The pic also opens this weekend in 19 foreign markets.

Universal opens the 3D redo of Jurassic Park 20 years after the original dinosaur movie debuted and is using the rerelease to prime audiences for Jurassic Park IV, which rolls out in June 2014 (Spielberg is producing but not directing).

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Jurassic Park 3D is expected to gross in the $7 million range on Friday for a weekend opening nearing $20 million, though 3D rereleases are tricky to model. That would put Spielberg's film in a close race with holdovers The Croods and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.