GRAVITY Hurtles Toward $48M Debut at Weekend Box Office; RUNNER RUNNER Gambles for $8M

Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron's 3D space epic GRAVITY, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, tethered $17 million on its opening Friday and is now floating toward $48-50 million for the weekend. The Warner Bros. movie is on track to become the biggest three-day opening ever for both Bullock and Clooney and one of October's highest grossing films.

For the original news, head on over to The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.

GRAVITY earned $3.8 million in select markets on Thursday, with big business expected to come in on Imax and 3D screens through Sunday.

Academy Award winners Bullock ("The Blind Side," "The Proposal") and Clooney ("Up in the Air," "Syriana") star in this heart-pounding thriller that pulls you into the infinite and unforgiving realm of deep space.

Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) in command of his last Flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth...and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

RUNNER, RUNNER, with Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck, is rolling the dice for an $8 million opening after just $2.7 million on Friday. Not the stunner New Regency and 20th Century Fox had hoped, but luckily the film's budget is an easy-to-recoup $30 million.

The gambling movie is directed by Brad Furman from a script by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, and also stars Gemma Arterton and Anthony Mackie.

For BWWMovies' review roundup for GRAVITY, click here.

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