Kevin Hart's New Comedy May Take Out The 'RoboCop' Remake At Theaters This Weekend

Matt Kennedy/Sony PicturesKevin Hart's comedy "About Last Night" may laugh its way past the '80s remake releases this holiday weekend.

It's going to be a close weekend at the box office this weekend - at least for second and third place. While "The LEGO Movie" is expected to reel in audiences for the second week in a row, there's a three way battle for the romantic film to see. Here are the choices for the weekend: 1. Warner Bros.' poor-reviewed Colin Farrell love story "Winter's Tale."
2. Universal' remake of '80s film "Endless Love" that's aimed at teens.3. Sony's romantic comedy with Kevin Hart, "About Last Night." Then, there's the "RoboCop" remake which has received mixed reception. Weeks ago, we probably would have said "RoboCop" would have no problem drawing a huge audience this weekend. However, it looks like Hart could be the surprise winner for the weekend. Here's why:

Kevin Hart has quietly been a break-out box office success since last year.

"Grudge Match" aside (he wasn't the star in that), the comedian has been killing it at theaters. Take a look at the opening box office numbers for Hart's last three movies. "Think Like A Man" outperformed beyond box-office expectations that a sequel to the film is out this June. Regarding the stand-up film, "Let Me Explain" is the fourth highest-grossing comedy concert movie behind Richard Pryor's '82 film "Live on the Sunset Strip."

The reviews

"About Last Night" has remarkably better reviews than "Winter's Tale," "Endless Love," AND "RoboCop."
Via Rotten Tomatoes (critics/audience):

"About Last Night": 75%/83%
"RoboCop": 49%/67%
"Endless Love": 16%/68%
"Winter's Tale": 13%/49%

It's the film both women ... and men want to see

Thursday, Fandango released a survey of more than 1,000 ticket buyers asking which films men and women want to see for the holiday weekend. Hart's film is at the top of both lists. The only movie that beats it out for men is "RoboCop." TOP VALENTINE'S WEEKEND MOVIE PICKS FOR MEN
1. ROBOCOP2. ABOUT LAST NIGHT
3. MONUMENTS MEN4. LONE SURVIVOR5. RIDE ALONG FOR WOMEN:
1. ABOUT LAST NIGHT
2. ENDLESS LOVE3. WINTER'S TALE4. VAMPIRE ACADEMY5. LABOR DAY

Ticket Sale Numbers

Kerry Hayes / Sony PicturesIt's a box-office race between "RoboCop" and Kevin Hart this weekend.

Wednesday morning, "About Last Night" was selling more tickets through Fandango than "RoboCop."

Here are the percentage of ticket sales for Wed. morning. We'll update with current ticket percentages as we receive them:

"The LEGO Movie": 30%
"About Last Night": 22%
"RoboCop": 15%

Box office predictions for "RoboCop" and "About Last Night" this weekend are scattered so far. Here are the four-day estimates from BoxOffice.com and BoxOfficeMojo:

"The Lego Movie": $43-$60 million"RoboCop": $17.5-$28 million"About Last Night": $26.5-$34.5 million

Thoughts: It makes sense for "About Last Night" to draw numbers closer to "Think Like A Man," given the popularity of "Ride Along." $60 million seems a bit high for week two of "The LEGO Movie" since it opened to $69.1 million last week. $40 million is probably a more reasonable expectation.