'Real Steel,' 'Footloose' duke it out for No. 1

LOS ANGELES — The robot boxers of “Real Steel” and the dancers of “Footloose” are in a tight fight for the box-office title.

The Hugh Jackman tale about machines in the boxing ring took in $16.3 million, which would make it the No. 1 movie for the second-straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

But “Real Steel” came in barely ahead of the remake “Footloose,” which opened with $16.1 million.

The movies are close enough that they could switch rankings once final numbers are released today.

Studio estimates are based on actual business Friday and Saturday and projections for Sunday.

An executive at Disney, which is distributing “Real Steel” for DreamWorks Pictures, said he expects his movie will come out on top because of strong family crowds during daytime shows Sunday.

“Absolutely,” said Dave Hollis, Disney's head of distribution. “The way we've been playing, the families who've been coming and the kind of daytime business we've had on each of the weekend days so far, we have the expectation that it won't be terribly close. They're free to estimate as |they will, but we expect to be No. 1.”

Paramount, which released “Footloose,” was tracking its movie's revenues slightly ahead of those for “Real Steel,” said Don Harris, Paramount's head of distribution. “It's close enough to be a dead heat at this point,” Harris said.

“Footloose” is a new take on the 1980s film about a youth challenging a town's ban on dancing. It's rare that the top two movies flip-flop in the rankings after final numbers come out Monday.