Box Office: ‘Emoji Movie’ Faces Tough Competition in ‘Dunkirk’ at $27 Million

“The Emoji Movie” may be getting a lot of negative reacts from critics, but that isn’t necessarily stopping the masses from enjoying the emoticons on the big screen. The animated comedy is neck-and-neck with “Dunkirk” in its second week, both tracking at $27 million.

Sony’s “Emoji Movie” is the big release of this summer weekend, opening in 4,075 theaters. After taking in just $900,000 in Thursday night previews, the T.J. Miller-led movie made another $10 million on Friday. Should this pattern continue, “Emoji” will see a debut of just over $27.5 million — more than half of its estimated $50 million budget.

Perhaps more impressively, Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” is giving the family friendly comedy a run for its money at just under $27.5 million in its second frame. Warner Bros.’ World War II drama took in $8 million from 3,748 locales on Friday, setting the film up to cross the $100 million mark at $102 million by weekends’ end.

Outside of the race for the top spot, new entry “Atomic Blonde” is also facing tough competition from “Girls Trip” for No. 3. Charlize Theron and James McAvoy’s R-rated, espionage thriller from Focus and Sierra/Affinity took in $7 million from 3,304 theaters on Friday. That number will translate to a $18 million opening by end of day Sunday. However, that may not be enough to top Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, and Tiffany Haddish’s raunchy, R-rated comedy. “Girls Trip” took in a further $6 million of Friday from 2,648 venues, setting up a $19 million second frame for the Universal project.

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” is swinging into fifth place during its fourth week. After taking in $4 million on Friday, Sony-Marvel’s superhero outing will finish the weekend with $13.5 million, bringing its domestic total to just over $275 million.

“War for the Planet of the Apes,” “Despicable Me 3,” “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” “Baby Driver,” and “Wonder Woman” round out the rest of the top 10.