'Safe House' provides hiding for a box-office surprise

Denzel Washington stars within the Universal thriller 'Safe House.'Based on early Friday box office grosses, Universal's "Safe House" has come about as both weekend's greatest champion and it is greatest surprise.B.O. viewers expect the Daniel Espinosa-helmed pic to earn between $13 million and $15 million today, putting it within the mid-$$ 30 million range for that weekend. That's well over the $20 million-range estimations from the 2009 week.It isn't immediately obvious which film will win the weekend equine race Friday returns indicate a dent around $12.5 million for Sony's "The Vow," angling it toward a dent-weekend gross of $32 million to $33 million.twentieth century Fox's three dimensional discharge of "The Exorcist: Episode I" will probably follow having a bow within the mid-to-high $20 millions, according to an believed $9 million-$ten million Friday take.Box office experts state that Warner Bros.' "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" looks to drag among $3.5 million and $4.5 million Friday, putting it in line to earn between $15 million and $16 million in the opening frame.Meanwhile, Fox holdover "Chronicle" will probably be lower 50% in the sophomore sesh, with B.O. experts pegging the pic's weekend earnings around $11 milion. Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com