It looks like the romantic comedy that's all about denied instant-gratification hit a roadblock of its own this weekend, as Judd Apatow's "Five-Year Engagement" seems like it will not win the weekend box office.
TheWrap reports Sony's "Think Like a Man" is projected to hold strong for the second week in a row, with a $5.5 million Friday that's expected to balloon into a $16 million weekend. That puts it ahead of "The Lucky One," the Zac Ephron-carried adaptation of a Nicholas Spark romance novel.
Apatow, Jason Segel and Nick Stoller's "Five-Year" brought in just $3.5 million on Friday, which will likely barely break $10 million over the weekend. The film was expected to make a "Bridesmaids"-like splash at the office, as many predicted the combination of Apatow and Segel's comic starpower would bring in around $20 million.
The movie cost about $30 million to make, though THR notes that Universal may be shielded from what would have been far greater losses had it not partnered with Relativity on the project. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," the movie that catapulted the Segel-Apatow connection to prominence, opened to a warmer $17.7 million in 2008.
"Five-Year Engagement" was greeted with mixed reviews as some critics appreciated the dynamic between Segel and his co-star Emily Blunt and others made puns about how long the movie felt (hint: more than five years).
If the third place finish is disappointing, at least the film opened ahead of the new Jason Statham movie "Safe," which brought in $2.5 million on Friday, John Cusack's Edgar Allan Poe thriller "The Raven," which did $2.5 million.
Meanwhile, "The Avengers" has brought in over $73 million in its first three days overseas, so perhaps Marvel is watching this week's box office with a bit of bemusement.
PHOTOS: "Five-Year Engagement" Premiere