"Cop Out" sets sights on "Shutter Island"

LOS ANGELES - Bruce Willis takes on Leonardo DiCaprio at the weekend box office in North America as three restricted movies vie for adult audiences.

The buddy-cop movie "Cop Out," starring Willis and Tracy Morgan, opens Friday along with the similarly R-rated horror remake "The Crazies."

Warner Bros.' "Buddy Cop" likely will duel for first place with DiCaprio's "Shutter Island," which opened at No. 1 last weekend with $41.1 million. The Paramount suspense thriller has prospects of fetching as much as $20 million this time.

But Warners distribution president Dan Fellman said director Kevin Smith's comedy has at least a shot at copping weekend bragging rights. "It's going to be a competitive weekend," he said.

Prerelease tracking surveys show that "Cop" holds strongest appeal among older men. That overlaps a bit with at least a portion of the broad base of support for "Island."

"The Crazies," a remake of George Romero's 1973 horror film, targets younger demos, so it might overlap with "Island" but not as much with "Cop." At midweek, tracking showed the Overture Films release headed for a bow in the midteen millions.

"We feel like we're tracking strong with young males and good reviews," Overture distribution president Kyle Davis said. "It scares you like a horror film is supposed to do and not just repulse you. So we are confident that the word-of-mouth is going to be good."

Limited openers set to hit theaters Friday include the French crime drama "A Prophet," nominated in Oscar's best foreign-language category. The film unspools opens in Los Angeles, New York and Montreal. Notable expansions include "The Last Station," which has drawn Oscar nominations for Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer.

The recent market focus on adult moviegoers has left the playing field free of notable competition for Fox's family adventure "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," which has earned more than $60 million heading into its third weekend.