The Angry Birds Movie Tops Friday Box Office

Sony's Angry Birds is off to a pretty good start with an estimated $11 million as of Friday. That number includes the $800,000 the film brought in via Thursday previews.

The animated film, based on the hit mobile game franchise, is looking to hit about $40 million for its opening weekend if it continues at this pace, which would put it in the number one spot for the weekend (via Box Office Mojo). That $40 million mark is $2 million higher than the studio's original projections.

Angry Birds is attempting to stave off Disney's Captain America: Civil War, which is in its third weekend. Civil War recouped about $8.7 million on Friday. Other new release films include Universal's Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising as well as The Nice Guys from Warner Bros. Neighbors 2 is right around Civil War numbers, taking in $8.74 million on Friday.

As for Angry Birds, the studio has high hopes that it will have somewhat long legs going forward, as the budget for the film sits at $73 million, and has a bevy of talented performers at its disposal, including Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, and Maya Rudolph. The film has also been privy to a sizeable marketing push, and until Pixar's Finding Dory launches on June 17th, it will pretty much have the young children demo to itself.

The film isn't being as well received by critics as it is by general audiences. Courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes, the film is currently sitting at a 42% rating, but the audience score is sitting at a comfortable 62%.