TOWER HEIST TO TOWER ABOVE RIVALS AT BOX OFFICE

Although it almost seems to have been written with the “Occupy” protesters in mind, it’s not clear whether they will be swelling the audience for Tower Heist, the Eddie Murphy/Ben Stiller comedy that opens this weekend. The movie, about a couple of New Yorkers who fall victim to a Ponzi scheme and decide to pull off a robbery at the perpetrator’s (Alan Alda) penthouse, is expected to take in $25-30 million and beat out the only other film debuting this weekend, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, which is expected to earn $13-18 million. Last week’s winner, DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots is likely to remain a contender with around $20-25 million, while Paranormal Activity 3 is likely to dive to around $6-10 million.