Box Office Report: 'Think Like a Man' Winning, Besting 'Lucky One,' 'Hunger Games'

Screen Gems' ensemble comedy Think Like a Man looks to be the film to finally unseat The Hunger Games, which has dominated the domestic box office for four consecutive weekends.

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The African-American-themed Think Like a Man -- based on Steve Harvey's best-selling advice book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man -- scored a surprising $500,000 in Thursday midnight runs and is overperforming Friday. Early estimates show it grossing in the $9 million range for the day, and between $20 million and $25 million for the weekend.

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Think Like a Man, whose cast includes Michael Ealy, Jerry Ferrara, Meagan Good, Regina Hall and Kevin Hart, is about four men whose love lives are disrupted when their partners begin using advice from Harvey's book.

Warner Bros.' Lucky One should gross $6 million to $7 million for the day, ahead of the $4 million Hunger Games is projected to earn. At those levels, Lucky One should open between $16 million and $18 million.

Sparks has become a brand name at the box office, and Lucky One, starring Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling, marks the seventh film adaptation of his books. Still, the female-driven pic is tracking to open noticeably less than Dear John ($30.5 million) and behind The Last Song ($25.3 million), both released in 2010.

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Warners, which partnered with Village Roadshow on Lucky One, points out that movies based on Sparks' novels have great multiples; Nights in Rodanthe grossed $41.8 million after opening to only $13.4 million, and The Notebook debuted to $13.5 million and grossed $81 million.

The third new film of the weekend is Chimpanzee, Disney's latest nature documentary, which is expected to open in the $7 million to $8 million range. The pic was co-produced by Disneynature and the Jane Goodall Institute, with proceeds of the opening weekend box office going to benefit Goodall's organization.

Lionsgate's Hunger Games has placed No. 1 every day since opening March 23 and is nearing $350 million domestically, while grossing north of $200 overseas.