'Captain America' ready to fight 'Harry Potter'

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The latest Marvel comic book hero to hit the big screen, Captain America: The First Avenger, will face off against Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 this weekend in an effort to reach the top spot at the US box office.

Captain America could draw between $57 to $70 million in the US, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com, making as big an impact as fellow super heroes X-Men and Thor, but it will be challenged with unseating the Harry Potter finale, which took in $592.6 million worldwide last weekend.

In its second weekend, even with a 50 percent dip in ticket sales, Harry Potter could earn up to $84 million more in the US alone, so it is likely to still dominate cinemas.

Chris Evans ( Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Losers) stars as Steve Rogers, a 90-pound weakling who volunteers for a top secret military experiment during World War II, transforming into super-soldier Captain America to battle a specialized Nazi group run by the megalomaniacal Red Skull.

Directed by Joe Johnston ( The Rocketeer, The Wolfman) and co-starring Tommy Lee Jones ( Men in Black), Stanley Tucci ( Burlesque) and Hugo Weaving ( The Matrix), this fantasy adventure sets up next summer's superhero film The Avengers, starring Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Mark Ruffalo's The Hulk.

With a stylized period setting, the Captain's origin story should easily conquer the other film debuting this weekend, Friends With Benefits, starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis and poised to collect an estimated $23 million.

The romantic comedy will appeal mostly to female moviegoers and releases wide around the world in September with a few more markets in October.

After Captain America: The First Avenger kicks off with midnight screenings, the action film opens in North America, Italy and Poland on July 22, followed by Australia, the UK, Brazil, Singapore, and a dozen other markets next weekend, with more markets in Europe, Asia and South America in August, and Japan on October 15.

Trailers:

Captain America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J3HfllvXWE

Friends With Benefits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJS-wWqVAyk

RC