WILL INSIDIOUS 2 SURPRISE AT BOX OFFICE?

It’s September, a month when it’s rare for a movie to open with more than $20 million. But director James Wan’s sequel to 2011’s horror flick Insidious, which lived up to its name by surprisingly earning nearly $100 million worldwide, is expected to do just that this weekend — perhaps even surpassing $30 million, according to box-office pundits. The original film cost just $1.5 million to make, making it one of the most profitable films of the year. Insidious 2 reportedly cost somewhat more than that, but it is also arriving with heightened expectations, especially given the fact that Wan’s The Conjuring opened with $41.9 million in July. As a horror flick, it also has something else going for it. It’s opening on Friday the 13th. Also opening this weekend is the action comedy The Family, starring Robert De Niro. Despite the fact that it has the names of DeNiro, director Luc Besson, and executive producer Martin Scorsese going for it, it has created little buzz, and box office analysts are predicting that it will earn no more than $9-12 million. Word-of-mouth about last week’s Riddick, however, has reportedly been mostly negative, and it’s expected to take a big plunge of around 65-70 percent this weekend, with around $5-7 million. The wild card at the box office may be the Spanish-language Instructions Not Included, which has proven to be a hot-selling movie ticket for the past two weeks. It’s being expanded to nearly 1,000 theaters this weekend and is also expected to earn around $5-7 million. Meanwhile, Lee Daniels’ The Butler is expected to cross the $100-million mark at the domestic box office this weekend. As of Thursday, it had earned around $94.5 million. It has yet to open overseas.