Box Office Battle: 'Miss Peregrine' expected to edge out 'Deepwater Horizon'

This weekend sees two major films being released, Fox's (FOX, FOXA) "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" and Lionsgate's (LGF) "Deepwater Horizon." The Tim Burton-directed "Miss Peregrine's," based on a novel by Ransom Riggs and starring Eva Green and Asa Butterfield, is expected to open in the range of $25M-$28M at 3,522 theaters. The film already earned $1.2M from Thursday night previews. Real life disaster movie "Deepwater Horizon," starring Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, and Kate Hudson, is expected to open in the range of $20M-$22M at 3,259 theaters, including 371 IMAX (IMAX) screens. However, Piper Jaffray analyst Stan Meyers said the film is tracking to open lighter than expected, in the $16M-$20M range. Sony (SNE) subsidiary Columbia Pictures' Western remake "The Magnificent Seven," with an ensemble cast headlined by Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, is estimated to earn an additional $17M. Time Warner's (TWX) Warner Bros. Animation's animated family film "Storks," from the studio that made "The LEGO Movie," is expected to earn an additional $12M-$13M. Warner Bros. biopic "Sully," directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks, is expected to earn $8M-$8.5M domestically in its fourth weekend at the box office. Other publicly traded companies in film making include Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK), Disney (DIS), and Viacom (VIA, VIAB).