'Kick-Ass' tops Friday boxoffice

1:27 AM PDT 10/14/2010 by Carl DiOrio, AP

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Film opens with $7.6 million; 'Funeral' comes in second

Call it a solid, if not quite kick-ass, start to its weekend.

Lionsgate opened the Matthew Vaughn-helmed comic actioner "Kick-Ass" -- featuring a young cast complemented by an engagingly goofy Nicolas Cage -- with an estimated $7.6 million in domestic boxoffice on Friday. The chart-topping sum included roughly $1 million in coin from about 1,500 screens programming the pic at 10 p.m. Thursday and a similar number of midnight Thursday performances.

The sturdy start to the frame should get the R-rated pic to about $20 million through Sunday. A $50 million production, "Kick-Ass" was acquired by Lionsgate for North American distribution for just mid-teen millions.

Starring Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence, Sony's R-rated comedy "Death at a Funeral" opened in second place among the daily grossers with $5.5 million. That's about the launch expected for a film projected to land in the teen millions through its first three days.

Among notable holdovers, Fox's PG-13 comedy "Date Night" -- starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey – rang up a third-best $5.5 million on the cusp of its sophomore session, yielding $37.4 million in cumulative b.o.

DreamWorks Animation's Paramount-distributed "How to Train Your Dragon" was fourth in the Friday rankings with $4.4 million. Entering its fourth weekend, the leggy 3D adventure now boasts a $155.4 million cume.

Warner Bros.' 3D action fantasy "Clash of the Titans" came in fifth with $4.3 million on the day and a $121.5 cume, entering its third frame.