Adam Sandler scored a touchdown on Friday with the opening day of his new comedy The Longest Yard which edged out Star Wars Episode III to top the box office on Friday with an estimated $15.7M in its first day of release. Sandler pics typically attract teens and young adults who rush out on Fridays so the crown for the entire weekend is sure to stay with George Lucas. But over the Friday-to-Monday holiday session, The Longest Yard might find itself with a powerful $49-54M for Paramount.

Star Wars Episode III began its second weekend with an estimated $15.5M on Friday dropping an understandable 54% from last Friday. The tally puts the Fox blockbuster in a stronger position going into the holiday frame than Episode II and Episode I which started their Memorial Day weekends with Friday takes of $12.8M and $13.5M, respectively. However, Revenge of the Sith's Friday-to-Friday drop was somewhat heavier than Episode II's dropoff rate of 48% on the same days.

Episode III also looks to become the fastest film in history to break the $250M hurdle as it should pass the mark on Sunday in its 11th day beating the current 12-day record held by Spider-Man 2 from last summer. Over the four-day weekend, Sith could find its way to $68-73M landing it in the number one spot with ease. Its remarkable 12-day cume should shoot to about $270M.

Also gobbling up a strong gross on Friday was the DreamWorks animated film Madagascar which opened with an estimated $14.4M in its first day in the wild. Family films earn a smaller share of their holiday weekend grosses on Friday since most children are still in school so sales should spike on Saturday and Sunday. The Ben Stiller-Chris Rock toon could be on its way to $62-68M over the four-day span.

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Last Updated: May 28, 2005 at 12:15PM EST

Written by Gitesh Pandya