Box Office Battle: 'Annabelle: Creation' expected to take top spot

Opening this weekend, and expected to take the top spot at the box office, is Time Warner's (TWX) Warner Bros. horror sequel "Annabelle: Creation," which is expected to open domestically in the $30M-$35M range. "Annabelle: Creation" already brought in $4M from Thursday night previews. Expected to finish in second place for the second week in a row is Warner Bros. "Dunkirk," Christopher Nolan's non-linear World War II film, which is expected to earn an additional $11M-$12M in its fourth weekend at theaters. Also opening this weekend is Open Road's animated "The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature," which is expected to open in the $9M-$12M range. Open Road is a joint venture between AMC (AMC) and Regal Entertainment (RGC). Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) subsidiary Universal's female-led comedy "Girls Trip," starring Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah, is expected to earn an additional $7M-$8M in its fourth weekend at theaters. Sony's (SNE) fantasy epic "The Dark Tower," based on the Stephen King novels and starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba, is expected to earn $7M-$8M in its second weekend at theaters, after winning the box office last weekend. Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include 21st Century Fox (FOX, FOXA), Disney (DIS), Lionsgate (LGF.A, LGF.B), and Viacom (VIA, VIAB).