In the showdown between Keanu Reeves and Will Smith for box office supremacy over the long Presidents' Day holiday weekend, evil defeated love on Friday as Reeves' demonic thriller Constantine opened to an estimated $11.5M in its first day of release outdistancing the estimated $9.5M for Smith's romantic comedy Hitch which began its second week off a reasonable 34% from its opening day.

However, control of the number one spot for the four-day weekend is still up for grabs as debuting sci-fi films earn more of their weekend share on Friday than do sophomore comedies. Hitch is likely to see a much larger jump on Saturday in the marketplace and Sunday should be strong for all films since most moviegoers have no work or school on Monday. Over the Friday-to-Sunday period, Constantine and Hitch may both approach the $30M mark while over the four-day holiday span, each picture could flirt with $35M making the race between the two box office superstars incredibly tight.

Two kid films also opened on Friday for the holiday frame. Fox's girl-and-her-dog pic Because of Winn-Dixie bowed to an estimated $2.9M while New Line unleashed its comedy sequel Son of the Mask which collected an estimated $2M in its first day of release. Presidents' Day should help keep sales healthy all weekend for both films with children having no school. Over the Friday-to-Sunday period, Winn-Dixie might gross $11-13M while over four days it may reach $13-15M. Son of the Mask seems likely to laugh up $7-8M over three days and about $8-9M over the Friday-to-Monday session.

Among holdovers, Friday-to-Friday declines were a slim 18% for Million Dollar Baby, a slender 15% for Are We There Yet?, and a steep 50% for Boogeyman.

For a NEW review of Constantine visit The Chief Report. Take this week's NEW Reader Survey on the opening weekend of Cursed.

Be sure to check back on Sunday for another holiday update and again on Monday for the complete four-day weekend box office report featuring official studio estimates.

Last Updated: February 19, 2005 at 12:15PM EST

Written by Gitesh Pandya