The witch hunters are headed for a box-office bull's-eye this weekend.
"Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" has a lock on No. 1 at the box office with an expected opening of about $30 million, according to people who have seen pre-release audience surveys.
A spokeswoman for distributor Paramount Pictures said the studio is expecting a more modest debut of a little over $20 million.
The action-oriented retelling of the classic fable will easily exceed two other new movies: "Parker," which stars Jason Statham in a crime thriller based on a series of novels, and the ensemble comedy "Movie 43."
Both are expected to have weak openings of less than $10 million.
The competition for No. 2 will instead come down to a pair of returning movies. "Mama," which opened to a strong $28.4 million last weekend, will likely take a big tumble as most horror movies do in their second weekends. "Zero Dark Thirty," after grossing $15.8 million last weekend, should enjoy a more modest decline as it continues enjoying positive word-of-mouth and awards buzz.
Originally set to come out in March 2012, "Hansel & Gretel" was postponed by Paramount to this weekend, a move that appears to have paid off as it is outpacing the weak competition.
The $50 million 3-D film, which stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton and was co-financed by Paramount and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, opened last weekend in Russia to a healthy $8.6 million.
