"Takers", "Exorcism" to fend off "Avatar" reissue

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Summer's penultimate box office session features an eclectic mix of wide openers big and small.

The heist thriller "Takers" should fetch well into the teen millions in its debut and thus is a candidate to end the two-week reign of "The Expendables" if it can build on core urban support for cast members Chris Brown, Idris Elba and Zoe Saldana. Young women should carry the horror picture "The Last Exorcism" into a similar range through Sunday.

But there's also a $2 billion-plus gorilla in the room this weekend: a 3D-only special edition of James Cameron's all-time box office champ "Avatar." (Hello again, Ms. Saldana.)

Fox's rerelease of the winter blockbuster -- in about 810 3D locations, including 125 Imax specialty venues -- should fetch at least high-single-digit millions during its first three days. Most of the Imax venues handling the special edition will play the picture for two weeks only.

The "Avatar" special edition boasts 8-1/2 minutes of additional footage, and a swell of fanboy interest could mean an even bigger weekend haul for the now 171-minute movie. The theatrical gambit also sets up nicely Fox Home Entertainment's planned November release of "Avatar" special editions on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. To date, "Avatar" has rung up a record $749.8 million domestically and $2.74 billion worldwide.

The Screen Gems/Sony release "Takers," co-starring Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon and Paul Walker, was directed by John Luessenhop ("Lockdown").

"Exorcism" was produced by Eli Roth, creator of the "Hostel" horror franchise, for less than $2 million, with Lionsgate subsequently acquiring domestic rights.

Also Friday, Sony Pictures Classics expands the comedy-drama "Get Low" to a nearly wide 570 engagements. Starring Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek, "Low" totes a $1.7 million total after four frames in limited release.

"The Expendables," meanwhile, earned $17 million last weekend, a decent drop of 51 percent. Lionsgate's Sylvester Stallone action-thriller has earned $71 million to date, the biggest total for an action headlining effort by the actor since 1993's "Cliffhanger" ($84 million).