Box Office: 'Lego Movie' Sky-High With $17.1 Million Friday; 'Monuments Men' No. 2

Transforming quickly into a goliath, Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures' family film The Lego Movie grossed a stunning $17.1 million on Friday at the North American box office.

The 3D animated family film could open to more than $60 million through Sunday, the best opening for the month of February after Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which launched to $83.8 million in 2004. Lego snagged an A CinemaScore.

Overseas, Lego is opening in 34 international markets this weekend, although many of them are smaller. Among the larger territories, the film is off to a strong start in Mexico and Brazil.

STORY: Inside the 'Lego Movie' Premiere With Chris Pratt and Will Arnett 

Lego, based on the wildly popular toy line and intended to launch a new film franchise, was made in association with Lego Systems A/S. The voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman.

The story follows an ordinary minifigure named Emmet who is mistaken for the hero who can save the Lego universe. With the aid of Batman, Uni-Kitty and Benny, among other characters, he must learn to defeat the tyrant Lord Business.

George Clooney's latest directing effort, The Monuments Men, also opened Friday at the North American box office, grossing a solid $7 million for a projected $20 million-plus weekend. The $70 million World War II film stars Clooney opposite Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett.

The adult drama, receiving mainly negative reviews and a B+ CinemaScore, was originally supposed to roll out over Christmas, but its release was pushed back until this weekend. On Saturday, it makes its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

Monuments Men, made in association with Germany's Babelsberg Studio and based on the nonfiction book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, follows a ragtag Allied squad of out-of-shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators and art historians tasked with saving important works of art before they are destroyed by the Nazis.

The weekend's third new offering is Vampire Academy, distributed by The Weinstein Co. The film appears D.O.A., earning $1.4 million on Friday for a seventh-place finish and projected $4 million weekend. IM Global and Reliance financed the movie.

Based on Richelle Mead's 2007 novel and directed by Mark Waters, Vampire Academy stars Zoey Deutch, Danila Kozlovsky and Lucy Fry. The story revolves around three friends who are dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, where they must contend with a dangerous hierarchy, along with lies and secrets.

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TV Ratings: 'Last Man Standing' and '20/20' Grow on Friday

Fast National ratings give ABC a demo win on Friday night, kicking the evening off with the night's few boosted programs: Last Man Standing. Averaging a 1.4 rating with adults 18-49, the show was up two-tenths of a point from last week. The Neighbors (1.0 adults) held even, while Shark Tank (1.8 adults) was off two tenths of a point. 20/20 (1.6 adults) was up four-tenths from last week. ABC averaged a 1.5 adults rating and 5.8 million viewers.

Undercover Boss (1.4 adults) dropped two tenths of a point from its premiere, while Hawaii Five-0 (1.5 adults) shed just one to be the night's top scripted effort. Blue Bloods (1.4 adults) was down three-tenths from it's premiere. CBS brought in a 1.4 adults rating and dominant 9.4 million viewers for the night.

On NBC, Dateline earned a 1.2, down a tenth from last week's 1.3  adults 18-49 rating. Meredith Vieria special Elizabeth's Story (1.2 adults) finished the night, with NBC averaging a 1.1 adults rating and 4.9 million viewers.

MasterChef Jr. dropped three-tenths of a point from last week's premiere, averaging a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49. With a Sleepy Hollow encore, Fox brought a 1.0 adults rating for the night and 3.1 million viewers.

America's Next Top Model (0.4 adults) held last week's rating on the CW, giving the net a nightly average of a 0.4 adults rating and 1.1 million viewers.

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Box Office Report: 'The Butler' Tops Friday With $8.3 Million; 'Kick-Ass 2,' 'Jobs' Falter

Marking a victory for Lee Daniels and his high-profile cast, The Butler won the Friday box office with an estimated $8.3 million as it raced ahead of three other new films -- Kick-Ass 2, Jobs and corporate thriller Paranoia.

The Weinstein Co.'s The Butler, returning Oprah to the big screen after a lengthy absence, is headed for a $24 million-plus weekend after nabbing stellar reviews and an A CinemaScore. The movie tells the true story of Eugene Allen (Forest Whitaker), a butler who served in the White House through eight presidential administrations. Oprah plays Allen's wife.

RELATED: Homegrown Films Are Beating Tentpoles at Overseas Box Office

Oprah has thrown her marketing weight behind The Butler, which is already considered an early awards contender.

Heading into the weekend, most thought Universal's Kick-Ass 2 would win the weekend with a $20 million-plus debut because of younger fanboy moviegoers. The sequel, however, is lagging, grossing an estimated $5.8 million on Friday for a projected $15 million-plus weekend. That could put it No. 3 behind The Butler and We're the Millers.

Kick-Ass 2, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Jim Carrey, won't match the success of the original Kick-Ass, which debuted to just under $40 million in spring 2010. The sequel, rebuffed by most critics, received a B+ CinemaScore.

Jobs, the independently produced Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher, and the corporate thriller Paranoia are faring even worse.

Made for under $15 million, Jobs took in an estimated $2.6 million on Friday for a projected $7.5 million to $8 million weekend, putting it at No. 6 or No. 7. The Open Road release was produced and financed by Five Star Films, with Endgame Entertainment partnering on the marketing. Jobs' performance is likely hurt by dismal reviews and a B- CinemaScore (Sony and Aaron Sorkin have their own Steve Jobs film in the works).

VIDEO: 'Kick-Ass 2' Stars Address Jim Carrey's Comments 

Trailing even farther behind is Robert Luketic's $35 million film Paranoia, starring Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford. The title was produced and financed by IM Global and Demarest Films.

Paranoia, receiving a C+ CinemaScore, grossed an estimated $1.3 million on Friday and may only earn $4 million, putting it outside the top 10 at No. 11.

Among holdovers, We're the Millers is enjoying a strong second weekend and should boast a domestic cume of nearly $70 million by through Sunday. The New Line comedy stars Jason Sukeikis and Jennifer Aniston.

Neill Blomkamp's Elysium is slipping to No. 4 in its second outing, and should finish the weekend with a domestic total of roughly $55 million.

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Box Office Report: Friday Returns Show 'G.I. Joe' Sequel Aiming for $45 Million-Plus Debut

Jon M. Chu's G.I. Joe: Retaliation is in the lead as Easter weekend gets underway.

G.I. Joe, with a cast led by franchise newcomers Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis, got a jump on the holiday frame by opening Thursday. The Paramount picture took in $10.5 million on its first day and scored a promising A- CinemaScore.

STORY: 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' Premiere: Bruce Willis Wins a Beard Bet, Dwayne Johnson Rocks as Roadblock

Based on early Friday returns, box-office observers are projecting that G.I. Joe could gross in the $12 million to $14 million range for the day, putting its weekend gross at roughly $36 million and four-day debut in the $45 million range.

Moviegoing is strong on Good Friday and Saturday, slowing somewhat on Easter Sunday. "Let's root for a 'Great' not Good Friday," quipped one Paramount insider.

Still, G.I. Joe likely won't match the $54.7 million domestic opening of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, but that film was released during the summer play period in early August 2009. The film (earning a B+ CinemaScore) ultimately took in $150.2 million domestically and $152.3 million internationally for a total of $302.5 million.

G.I. Joe also is opening in most international markets (75 percent) and is anticipating a global bow in the $100 million range. Paramount financed and produced the film with MGM and Skydance Productions in association with Hasbro. Producers are Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Brian Goldner.

D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce and Ray Stevenson also star in the sequel.

G.I. Joe originally was set to open last summer, but the studio pushed back the release in order to convert it to 3D and refashion Channing Tatum's role. Originally, his character was killed off, but after the star's box-office status surged thanks to The Vow and 21 Jump Street, Paramount and its partners decided to make the character's fate more ambiguous.

Paramount already is anticipating that G.I. Joe will hit $200 million internationally, notably more than the original.

The studio says it minimized its risk overall by keeping G.I. Joe's budget to roughly $130 million; Cobra cost at least $175 million. Paramount put up half the money for the sequel, while MGM and David Ellison's Skydance each put up a 25 percent share.

Opening on Good Friday are writer-director Tyler Perry's Temptation -- a marked departure from the filmmaker's comedic fare -- and director Andrew Niccol's sci-fi thriller The Host, adapted from Twilight author Stephenie Meyer's novel.

Temptation, from Lionsgate, is doing solid business so far for a projected three-day debut in the $18 million range or better. The film stars Jurnee Smollett-Bell (Friday Night Lights) as a restless marriage counselor who begins a dangerous affair with a social media mogul (Robbie Jones). Lance Gross, Kim Kardashian, Vanessa Williams also star.

Lionsgate targeted women and African-Americans in marketing the film. The studio also took advantage of Kardashian's celebrity profile.

It is the fourth Perry film that Lionsgate has released over Easter weekend.

STORY: Ain't It Cool's Harry Knowles: The Cash-Strapped King of the Nerds Plots a Comeback 

The Host, starring Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons and Jake Abel, is pacing to open in the $14 million range, although that projection could change. Open Road Films is distributing the film on behalf of producers Nick Wechsler, Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz and Inferno Entertainment. Meyer also is a producer and has tirelessly promoted the project, which marks her first post-Twilight outing.

Set in a society where parasitic aliens known as "Souls" inhabit humans, The Host is appealing primarily to females (Meyer's fan base). The story follows a "Soul" who finds it impossible to entirely banish the human girl she inhabits.

DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox's animated family event pic The Croods will beat both Temptation and The Host for No. 2 with a projected weekend gross as high as $30 million - a decline of only 31 percent.

The 3D toon opened to $43.6 million last weekend and has done strong midweek business for a domestic total of $62.1 million. On Friday, it could gross $11 million to $11.5 million, virtually the same as it earned a week ago thanks to kids and parents being out of school and off of work.

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TV Ratings: 'Fringe,' Christiane Amanpour Special Lead Quiet Friday

Four nights before Christmas and little was stirring on television. Fox and ABC, the two networks airing the night's few original broadcast, shared an extremely soft Friday with a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49.

ABC, which also led in viewers with 4.8 million, followed comedy encores with ABC News special Back to the Beginning With Christiane Amanpour (1.1 adults).

Also leading with an encore, Fox aired on of the scant remaining episodes of Fringe (1.0 adults). It was down just a tenth of a point from last week. Fox averaged 2.7 million viewers.

Dateline (0.8 adults) followed encores on NBC. The broadcast was down significantly from last week (2.0 adults), which saw viewership swell for the hour devoted to coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting. NBC averaged 4.4 million viewers.

Three back-to-back repeats of The Good Wife averaged a 0.6 adults rating and 4.1 million viewers on CBS.

Christmas specials pulled a 0.6 adults rating and 1.8 million viewers on The CW.

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Box Office Report: 'End of Watch,' 'House at the End of the Street' Tie on Friday

In a surprise twist, Jake Gyllenhaal-Michael Pena's cop drama End of Watch tied with Jennifer Lawrence horror pic House at the End of the Street for No. 1 at the Friday box office, each earning $4.6 million.

Clint Eastwood's new baseball drama Trouble with the Curve followed with $4.2 million. From Warner Bros., the film is hoping for a Saturday boost as older moviegoers become available. Otherwise, it could lose the weekend race to End of Watch, which is projecting a $13.5 million debut. House at the End of the Street will likely earn $12 million for the weekend.

Heading into the weekend, Warner Bros. was expecting a $14 million debut for Trouble with the Curve. It's unclear how Eastwood's recent speech at the Republican National Convention is impacting the film's performance.

PHOTOS: Fall Movie Preview 2012

Trouble with the Curve, about an aging baseball scout who goes on one last trip with his daughter, is directed by Rob Lorenz, Eastwood's longtime producing partner. It's the first film that Eastwood has starred in, but not directed, since In the Line of Fire in 1993.

Directed by David Ayer, End of Watch received an A- CinemaScore. Open Road Films is distributing the film.

House at the End of the Street, from Relativity Media, earned a B CinemaScore.

Box office observers also are tracking Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, which expanded into a total of 788 theaters on Friday, grossing $1.4 million.

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Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren Add Star Power as Karlovy Vary Film Festival Opens Friday

The 47th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival opens on Friday with the international premiere of Lisa Barros D’Sa's and Glen Leyburn's film Good Vibrations, a biopic about Terri Hooley, a record-store owner instrumental in developing Belfast's punk-rock scene.

And like last year, a Woody Allen film will close the festival – To Rome With Love after Midnight in Paris served as the closer last year.

Overall, the festival will screen 217 films (including 34 shorts) with 22 world premieres and 744 film professionals scheduled to attend.

In addition to previously announced high-profile guests, such as Susan Sarandon and Helen Mirren, both of whom will be awarded Crystal Globe lifetime achievement awards, the festival will host up-and-coming star Kara Hayward, who plays the lead in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, Thomas Bo Larsen, one of director Thomas Vinterberg's regular actors who will present Vinterberg's The Hunt, and Italian horror maestro Dario Argento, who will introduce Dario Argento’s Dracula 3D, which will be screened as part of the festival's Midnight Screenings section.

Last year, the festival decided to inject some new blood into its programming and appointed longtime staffer Karel Och as artistic director. He took over from film historian Eva Zaoralova, who, along with Jiri Bartoska, a celebrated Czech actor and current festival president, is credited with building the festival's modern reputation. The festival has turned into something of a Cannes for Eastern Europe, which nonetheless balances offerings for both film industry professionals and moviegoers.

“We strike this balance by making the film professional and viewer oriented elements of the festival 'meet' one another,” said Och. “Our aim is to 'infect' film professionals with the cinephilia virus – they often have it already, but lack time to follow it – and to expose our regular audience to interesting issues from the world of the film industry in events open to the public. The balance is of crucial importance.”

Och is particularly proud of the programming staff's accomplishments in the festival's East of the West competition this year. “This year’s East of the West has a new look – it focuses on brand new titles by first- and second-time directors, and we all are very proud of the selection,” said Och. “We believe it is a highly representative program showcasing the work of the most talented young filmmakers from [all over] Central and Eastern Europe.”

The festival was founded in 1946. The Karlovy Vary Film Festival Foundation was founded in 1993 by the Czech Ministry of Culture, the City of Karlovy Vary, and the local Grand Hotel Pupp. Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary, a joint company, has organized the festival since 1998.

The total budget for this year is 135 million CZK ($6.5 million), 70 percent of which is from corporate sponsors, such as the RWE and CEZ energy groups, Audi Unicredit Bank and others. The other 30 percent come from state and municipal funds – the Czech Ministry of Culture, the Czech state budget, the city and theregion of Karlovy Vary.

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Box office update: 'Green Lantern' wins Friday with $21.6 million - Entertainment Weekly

Image Credit: Francois Duhamel

As expected, Green Lantern lit up the box office yesterday: According to early estimates, the emerald-superhero romp grossed $21.6 million. By comparison, Thor — another film about a cosmic superhero without much mainstream name recognition — grossed $25.7 million on its opening day last month. Since reviews haven’t been too kind, I’m betting Lantern will experience a bit of a drop-off on the way to a weekend gross in the area of $55 million. (It also grossed $3.4 million in midnight screenings on Thursday.) It’s hardly a disappointment, although the PG-13 film will have an uphill battle trying to recoup its $200 million budget. It’ll be interesting to whether Lantern‘s foreign grosses can bolster the film’s overall performance. (Never underestimate the cross-cultural appeal of colorful, semi-abstract space battles.)

The weekend’s other new wide release, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, came in second with an estimated $6.4 million. That’s almost identical to the Friday gross of Jim Carrey’s last broad comedy, Yes Man, which bowed in December 2008 to a $6.5 million. It’s not a great opening for the PG-rated comedy — perhaps parents thought their kids would rather watch funny Green Lantern aliens than funny penguins? — and barring a weekend groundswell, expect the film to gross about $18 million for the weekend. Could it be that we’ve finally reached the end of March of the Penguins‘ long tail? (Pray for Happy Feet 2.)

Last week’s first-place finisher Super 8 fell to third place with $6 million, bringing it to a total gross of $57.5 million. That’s about a decline of about 50 percent from last Friday — not bad for a film that features zero attractive actors wearing ridiculous costumes. It’ll be interesting to see if Super 8 can jump ahead of Mr. Popper’s in the next couple of days – since both films feature emotionally absent dads learning to reconnect with their children, they could both surge on Father’s Day.

Rounding out the top five, X-Men: First Class fell 55 percent from last Friday, with an estimated $3.4 gross. Nipping at its heels in a race for fourth place, The Hangover Part II earned $3.2 million — a decent 44 percent drop-off for the comedy sequel, which has already grossed $226 million domestically. Both films should finish the weekend with about $10-12 million.

On the indie scene, The Art of Getting By grossed a just-okay $296,000 in 610 theaters. Conversely, The Tree of Life continued to grow with $323,000 on a mere 114 theaters. Hey, when you think about it, The Tree of Life is sort of the art-film version of Green Lantern: Daddy issues, cosmos-spanning narrative, and, er, I’m pretty sure Brad Pitt wears a ring?

Be sure to check back here on Sunday for the complete box office report! Here’s your Friday top five:

1. Green Lantern — $21.6 mil
2. Mr. Popper’s Penguins — $6.4 mil
3. Super 8 — $6 mil
4. X-Men: First Class — $3.4 mil
5. The Hangover Part II — $3.2 mil

Box Office Preview: Will Green Lantern see a lot of green?

Follow Darren on Twitter: @EWDarrenFranich

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