We won’t know the final figures of the weekend box office until, quite obviously, the end of the weekend, but right now, the fight between Kick-Ass 2 and Lee Daniels’ The Butler is looking pretty tight.

Forest Whitaker, The Butler Still
Will The Butler come out as a surprise weekend hit?

The Butler, a based-on-a-true-story historical drama has been promoted to and fro over the past couple of weeks. While the critics have deemed the direction somewhat patchy and undecided, everyone has been impressed with the performances of Forest Whitaker and co., even earning this film some early Oscar buzz.

Chloe Grace Moretz, Kick-Ass 2 Still
So far, Kick-Ass 2 looks like the biggest contender.

Kick-Ass 2, on the other hand is, well, Kick-Ass. Unless you’ve somehow fallen off the face of the planet during the past three years, you will have noticed the uproar that the first movie caused. Merging extreme violence with the classic coming of age tale, the film, based on a comic book by the ever controversial Mark Miller, ruffled more than a few feathers. The second one is also a love-ot-or-hate-it kind of film, judging by Jim Carrey’s (who worked on Kick-Ass 2) condemnation of the violence associated with children, particularly after the Newtown shooting.

Check out the Kick-Ass 2 trailer below.

Still, the apparently violent themes couldn’t compete with the marketing campaign set up by Universal and on Thursday, thousands of fans flooded into theatres to catch the midnight premiere, spending a total of $1.3 million on the night, according to CinemaBlend. Some other contenders for top spots this weekend will be the Ashton Kutcher starrer Jobs, the spy thriller Paranoia, the Ben Affleck crime drama Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and the romantic comedy Austenland. Well, we’ll leave these to battle it out and, as usual, bring you the results at the end of the weekend.

Watch a promotional clip from Lee Daniels' The Butler below.