'The Last Exorcism' takes Friday box office lead

Daniel Stamm's "The Last Exorcism" has had a solid launch, because the horror thriller scared it competition and took the box office lead Friday with a strong $9.4 million in estimated ticket sales.

The Lionsgate release is now playing at 2,874 locations, scoring an opening day average of $3,271 per theater. The film follows a minister who agrees to have his final exorcism taped by a documentary crew.

Opening in second place was "Takers," which performed rather well. Starring Idris Elba, the heist flick took $7.5 million for Screen Gems at 2,206 locations. Paul Waker, Matt Dillon and Chris Brown so-star.

Sylvester Stallone's "The Expendables" slipped to third place, earning $2.7 million for a total haul of $75.2 million. Following in fourth place Friday was "Eat Pray Love," which bagged $2.1 million.

Meanwhils, "The Other Guys" took the No. 5 spot, taking home another $1.9 million for a cumulative gross of $94.6 million. And as for the "Avatar" re-release, it only pulled $1.2 million, enough for eleventh place.

Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)