Yesterday, box office predictions had Kung Fu Panda expected to make in the low-to-mid fifties and You Don’t Mess With the Zohan making around $32 million. Those weekend box office predictions were way off.

The Jack Black family film Kung Fu Panda, the first big animated movie of the year, earned $20.3 million on Friday according to Box Office Prophets, which means that the DreamWorks picture is expected to make approximately $65 million over the course of the weekend. Aside from the Shrek movies, this is DreamWork’s biggest animated opening ever.

As for Adam Sandler, who didn’t suffer either. Most analysts had his movie pegged at making $15-20 million less than the more family-friendly fare opening this weekend, and they were right. However, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, where Sandler plays a former Israeli counter terrorist who moves to New York to fulfill his dream of cutting hair only to be pursued by his former enemies, earned $15.2 million on Friday, which should lead to a $41 million opening. Those who were questioning whether Sandler’s time was fading after the disappointing Chuck and Larry were… wrong.

From the numbers I pulled yesterday, Entertainment Weekly was closest to estimating Panda’s numbers, as it had predicted $60 million in box office receipts. They were the second worst at predicting Zohan’s numbers, however. Box Office Report came closest to predicting Zohan’s numbers with a $38 million box office estimate.

Two big films open this weekend, both looking at diametrically different audiences. In one corner, we have You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, the Adam Sandler comedy almost guaranteed to capture a good chunk of the lucrative teenage fan base, and in the other, Kung Fu Panda, the first major animated film of the year. It’s Sandler versus Jack Black, gross-out vs. PG, old versus new.

Neither film looks particularly good. Kung Fu Panda seems like a lot of special effects without much substance, as the previews fail to suggest that there’s much of a story or comedy to be found. Seriously, the previews aren’t funny at all, and if I want to watch Kung Fu, I’ll watch Bruce Lee. As for Zohan, I always hold out hope that Adam Sandler can deliver something entertaining - and there are some funny moments in the previews - but after I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry turned out to be pretty terrible, I am hesitant.

Needless to say, neither film inspires much love from me, and unless I want to see Sex and the City this weekend, this may be a good couple of days to relax and enjoy the warm weather. Unfortunately, I live in Seattle, where it’s in the 50’s and raining.

On to the weekend box office predictions for the movie. I’m no box office expert, so I’ll leave the analysis to all the so-called box office experts floating around on the Internet. May was a tough month for box office analysts, though you can hardly blame them. Who would have thought Iron Man would open to $100 million? That Prince Caspian would so under-deliver? That Sex and the City would dominate so mightily? That The Strangers would actually do well? Anyway, here are the weekend box office predictions for the June 6 - 8 weekend:

• Blog Critics Magazine estimates $48 million for Panda and $34 million for Zohan.
• Digressions with Mark the Movie Guy estimates $55 million for Panda and $30-32 million for Zohan
• Box Office Prophets estimates $57 million for Panda and $30 million for Zohan
• Box Office Report shows $52 million for Panda and $38 million for Zohan
• Box Office Psychics has Panda at $45 million and Zohan at $37 million
• Rotten Tomatoes says Panda will earn $52 million versus Zohan’s $35 million
• EW.com has Panda making a whopping $60 million against Zohan’s $32 million
• Box Office Guru puts Panda at $52 million and Zohan at $35 million

So, it looks like Adam Sandler really doesn’t stand a chance, which is not really too surprising. Kung Fu Panda appeals to the masses; You Don’t Mess with the Zohan will appeal to Sandler fans. It’ll be interesting to see how Panda actually does, though, as there are bound to be some more box office disappointments over the course of the summer.

View more new releases this weekend…