Box Office Preview: ‘Perfect Guy’ & ‘The Visit’ Battle for No.1

Screen Gems’ The Perfect Guy and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit battle for the top spot at the box office this weekend, with both estimated to earn roughly $15 million to $17 million.

Directed by David M. Rosenthal, The Perfect Guy, from Sony’s Screen Gems label, stars Sanaa Lathan as a successful lobbyist who begins a passionate relationship with a charming stranger (Michael Ealy). When her former boyfriend (Morris Chestnut) resurfaces in her life she has to figure out who she should trust and who she should fear.

With a low $12 million production budget, Sony say they would be satisfied with an opening in the low-teens. The thriller is set to screen in more than 2,200 theaters.

Meanwhile, Jason Blum’s The Visit cost a mere $5 million to produce. It follows the story of two children who are visiting their grandparents, only to find evil lurking. The horror thriller, which is set to bow out in 3,068 theaters, will likely appeal greatly to teenagers, due to the PG-13 rating.

“You can make a strong case for both,” said Jeff Bock, senior analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co. “This was a great slot for Sony with a similar film last year, and there hasn’t been a movie like this for African-American audiences all summer. On the other hand, M. Night Shyamalan has never had a movie open under $18 million, and this one has Jason Blum going for it and it’s PG-rated, so I could see it going even higher,” he said.

The weekend’s other wide release is MGM’s Christian drama 90 Minutes in Heaven, starring Hayden Christensen and Kate Bosworth. Directed by Michael Polish, the film is based on Don Piper’s biography recounting how he spent 90 minutes in heaven following a horrific car crash.

90 Minutes in Heaven should take in between $2 million and $4 million when it debuts in 838 theaters.

In the specialty box office, the weekend brings the adventure film Wolf Totem, the Jason Sudeikis romantic comedy Sleeping With Other People and Richard Gere’s Time Out of Mind, a drama about a homeless man.