'Immortals' rules at weekend B.O.

'Immortals'Relativity Media's "Immortals" delivered a better-than-expected estimated debut perf at $32 million from 3,112 domestic locations, which lands the film on a higher rung toward profitability, though there are still other factors at play.B.O. observers had predicted the vfx-driven 3D epic to make around $25 million through Sunday, which Relativity said would be a solid start to recouping its $75 million investment after tax rebates. The studio has reduced that risk further by about two-thirds, thanks to foreign pre-sales. But as with nearly every film where exhibs share in roughly half of the eventual domestic B.O., added to an approximate $35 million P&A spend, Relativity will rely mostly on a squishy ancillary market to make up the difference for "Immortals."Released internationally via local distribs, "Immortals" earned north of $36 million from 35 overseas territories, including China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the U.K. (Pre-sales to foreign distribs will prevent Relativity from collecting much of anything from the overseas B.O., depending on how the film performs.)The upcoming Stateside holiday play period should help, but numerous new entries (not to mention holdovers) will vie for aud attention.Also bowing this weekend, Sony's PG-rated Adam Sandler pic "Jack and Jill" debuted at an estimated $26 million, narrowly beating Paramount-DreamWorks Animation's stalwart toon holdover "Puss in Boots," which fell just 23% in its third frame for a projected weekend take of $25.5 million. "Puss" could wind up edging out "Jack and Jill" with Monday's actuals.Clint Eastwood's latest directorial effort "J. Edgar" aligned squarely with pre-weekend projections, grossing in three days an estimated $11.5 million. Warner Bros. launched the film limited on Wednesday before expanding wide two days later; pic's five-day cume reached $11.6 million.In a more traditional platform release, Magnolia bowed Lars von Trier's Cannes winner "Melancholia" at 19 engagements, scoring $270,000 for the weekend, with a fine per-screen average of $14,210. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com