Early Returns: 'Bad Moms' and 'Nerve' Beating Expectations

There's no reason to think at this point that Jason Bourne won't win the weekend as expected, but the week's other two new releases performed particularly well during their weeknight previews. That probably means that the battle for the top five spots this week will be just as tumultuous as it was last week.

The biggest surprise of the week so far is the performance of the thriller Nerve in early showings. The relatively low-budget film opened on Wednesday night to get a headstart on the competition, and the strategy paid off. Showings on Wednesday brought in $3.7 million, and Thursday previews earned the film another $2.3 million, for a total of $6 million. That's already half the $12 million that the movie was expected to earn for the weekend.

The raunchy comedy Bad Moms didn't do so badly in previews, either. It earned $2 million on Thursday, a total that should keep it in line to earn about $20 million for the weekend. It's notable that the relatively high-profile comedy is being outperformed by Nerve at this point, though.

Jason Bourne topped the charts on Thursday with $4.2 million. The action thriller is expected to take in $50 to $60 million for the weekend.