‘I Am Number Four,’ ‘Unknown’ Go Neck-and-Neck at Friday Box Office

 

DreamWorks Studios’ teen sci-fi adventure I Am Number Four and Warner Bros.’ Liam Neeson thriller Unknown were in a close race at the box office Friday afternoon, although grosses for the day won’t be available until later tonight.

Box office observers are suggesting the two films will gross in the mid $20s over the long President’s Day Weekend, but that could change if one gets a bigger bump on Saturday. Some give Number Four an edge, but acknowledge that Unknown is already doing better than expected (much as Neeson’s Taken did).   Business for 20th Century Fox’s Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son is expected to pick up Friday evening as African-American families become available. Film should score a solid opening over the four-day weekend, grossing somewhere north of $20 million.