Neither actioner White House Down nor the female-led action-comedy The Heat seem likely to overtake Monsters University, marking a relatively slow week for the U.S. box office with two films expected to bring in more than $40 million (as opposed to last week, when three films did)–and the second one, barely.Deadline is reporting that in spite of a strong midnight presence for White House Down, the film settled down yesterday compared to the Sandra Bullock/Melissa McCarthy-driven The Heat. The ’80s-inspired action-comedy looks to be on pace for a $40.6 million opening weekend, meaning that it will still come in second but will do so decisively, with White House Down bringing in only about $30 million.It’s a weekend that runs counter to traditional box office wisdom; White House Down has a number of big-name stars in an explosion-filled “guy” movie, but a family film and one headlined by two middle-aged actresses will beat it at the box office. Both Bullock and McCarthy have proven to be major draws in recent years, so much of the credit probably goes to them (as opposed to the film’s promotional campaign, which bordered on nonexistent), with a bit of it aimed at director Paul Feig, who had a huge hit with McCarthy in Bridesmaids.
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