Vin Diesel's Riddick is expected to comfortably take the top spot at the box-office this weekend - owing to weak competition - and the action-sci-fi got a head start on Thursday (September 5, 2013) by racking up roughly $900k from late night and midnight screenings, according to The Wrap.

Riddick PosterThe Official Poster for Riddick

The third movie in the franchise - which Vin Diesel has admirably stood by - follows a highly trained killer with the ability to see in the dark. It opened at 1,800 theaters last night and took around $200k more than when Resident Evil Retribution opened to late night screens in 2012. This seemingly bit of pointless information is good news for Riddick, given the Milla Jovovich movie made $21 million over its opening weekend. Industry predictions suggest Diesel's vehicle - see what we did there? - will take somewhere in the region of £30 million. That would see it better The Chronicles of Riddick - which took $24.3 million in 2004.

Watch the Riddick trailer:

Either way, the movie - which received mixed reviews this week - should pull comfortably away from the competition this weekend, with only Shane Salerno's 'Salinger' documentary, the badly received Winnie Mandela biopic and a handful of other indie movies joining it as newcomers.

JD SalingerJ.D Salinger, As Featured in Shane Salerno's New Movie

Lee Daniels' The Butler, featuring an all-star cast including Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker, should take second place, while One Direction's This Is Us may hold for the top five.

Forest WhitakerLee Daniels' The Butler Should Take Second Place At The Box Office