Will Smith's last movie opened No. 1. Jaden Smith's last movie opened No. 1 movie, too. But Fast & Furious 6 has little reason to fear slipping to No. 2.
The action sequel, which led a record-setting Memorial Day box office, was expected to come out on top this weekend, and handily best the Smiths' just-released After Earth.
If Fast & Furious 6 performs like its series' previous installments, it'll see its second-weekend ticket sales drop by about 60 percent. That would put the latest Vin Diesel vehicle at a still-big $58 million.
After Earth, meanwhile, formally opening today, was believed to be on track for a Friday-Sunday gross of about $35 million.
The caper film Now You See Me, the weekend's other major new release, could open behind the holdovers Star Trek Into Darkness and Epic, per a projected Exhibitor Relations rundown of the weekend, with $19 million, on par with the debut posted by the more modestly budgeted 2010 heist film Takers.
For After Earth, a debut in the range of $35 million-$40 million would put the sci-fi film in the post-apocalyptic neighborhood of Tom Cruise's modest spring performer, Oblivion, and mark a respectable start for a film that's been savaged by critics and prompted the nightmare Daily Beast headline, "Will Smith's After Earth Is Terrible. Has He Lost His Mojo?"
At the box office, After Earth will almost assuredly be a comedown for both father and son Smith, whose previous movies, Men in Black 3 and the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid, respectively, both scored about $55 million in their opening weekends.
For director M. Night Shyamalan, any debut that's bigger than his Lady in the Water low point ($18 million in 2006) would keep him from getting all wet.