'Expendables 3' crashes and burns with franchise low $5.9 million Friday at box office

The Expendables 3 is off to quite the poor start indeed, with a low Friday box office number that is a franchise low and likely mean the film could very well be outdone by R-rated comedy Let's Be Cops.

The over-the-hill action star extravaganza debuted to just $5.9 million, with $875,000 coming from Thursday night previews. That start does not bode well for the rest of the weekend for the film and it will be lucky to even reach projections of $17 million for the weekend, Forbes reports. That's a far cry from how well the first two installments fared at the box office.

The first film grossed $35 million back in August 2010 and two years later The Expendables 2 followed with a lower $28 million debut. The drop from the second to the third film is staggering. The film does have some factors going against it such as the third film inexplicably being rated PG-13, fans might be suffering from franchise fatigue and that the film leaked three weeks ahead of release.

The $100 million action film will hit fourth place behind two blockbuster holdovers and one new film. Expendables 3 will certainly land far behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which grossed $7.9 million on its second Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter and will likely earn $26 million for the weekend.

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy opened its third weekend with $7 million and will land in the second box office spot with a projected $23 million gross. The film will pass the $200 million mark by Sunday's end.

R-rated Fox comedy Let's Be Cops, which got off to a strong early start during the week, will gross about $17 million for the weekend after earning $5.6 million on Friday.

New wide release film The Giver isn't likely going to have a good weekend after grossing only $4.7 million on Friday. The Jeff Bridges starring film is headed to a fifth place finish with a projected $13 million opening.

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