This upcoming weekend, Marvel Studios’ latest superhero epic, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” will continue to run rampant at the box office, and it’s likely to be the #1 movie for quite some time, or at least until “Top Gun: Maverick” opens over Memorial Day weekend.

On Friday, Universal Pictures is releasing Blumhouse Pictures’ take on Stephen King’s best-selling thriller “Firestarter,” but it’s not just opening in roughly 3,300 theaters – it will also get a day-and-date release on its Peacock streaming service. The new movie stars Ryan Kiera Armstrong from “American Horror Story” as young Charlie McGee, the titular girl with pyrokinetic powers, while Zac Efron plays her father. It’s directed by Keith Thomas, who helmed the previous Blumhouse movie, “The Vigil.”

The decision for Universal to do day-and-date streaming is an odd one, just because there isn’t much direct competition other than “Doctor Strange.” Previously, the studio went this route with last year’s “Halloween Kills,” yet that still opened with $49.4 million. Earlier this year, Jennifer Lopez’s “Marry Me” did the same and didn’t do as well. “Firestarter” clearly doesn’t have the fanbase of either the horror classic or the pop singer, so it’s relying on Stephen King and Zac Efron fans. “Firestarter” could very well take second place this weekend with around $10 or $11 million but it’s probably not going to do much business after opening.

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Offering some counter-programming, but mainly to the Christian fanbase for YouTube sensations “The Skit Guys,” is the comedy “Family Camp,” which is being released into an undisclosed number of theaters by Roadside Attractions. Led by Tommy Ackerman and Eddie James, playing characters named “Tommy” and “Eddie,” this looks like the type of comedy we’ve seen from the likes of Broken Lizard or The Kids in the Hall (who return with a new series on streaming this Friday, ironically enough), but it’s hard to determine whether the movie might play to those who aren’t already fans, especially with it not screening in advance for reviews. I expect this to end up just outside the Top 5.

Not that it really matters because “Doctor Strange” will still be #1 but probably with a drop-off of 65% or even more, since we have to remove the $36 million from Thursday previews when figuring out how it might hold, also considering the weaker reviews than other Marvel movies.

As mentioned in this month’s preview, this is a particularly good weekend for a number of limited and moderate releases, although it’s hard to determine if any will get enough theaters to even break into the Top 10.

Jerrod Carmichael’s directorial debut, the dark comedy “On the Count of Three,” is being released by UA Releasing into an unknown number of theaters, as well as on VOD this Friday. It co-stars Carmichael with Christopher Abbott as two friends who enjoy one last day together to resolve their issues before shooting each other. The movie also stars Tiffany Haddish and JB Smoove.

Bleecker Street is releasing Scott McGehee and David Siegel‘s drama “Montana Story,” starring Haley Lu Richardson and Owen Teague as estranged half-siblings who reunite at their father’s Montana farm as he lays dying.

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Another movie that premiered at Sundance 2021 is Swedish filmmaker Ninja Thyberg’s controversial “Pleasure,” starring Sofia Kappel as Bella, a young Swish woman who comes to L.A. to try to become an adult film star. NEON is releasing this one unrated, which means it might be relegated to the art houses in bigger cities.

IFC Midnight will be giving a limited release to the horror film “The Innocents” from Norwegian filmmaker Eskil Vogt, who received an Oscar nomination for co-writing “The Worst Person in the World.” It deals with a group of kids in a housing complex who discover they have secret powers, but things quickly take a dark turn as they learn to use them.

Another platform release comes from Sony Classics with the documentary “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story,” directed by mega-producer Frank Marshall (“Jurassic Park”) and Ryan Suffern. It covers the 50th anniversary of the long-running music and culture festival in 2019 before being side-lined for two years in a row due to COVID, featuring performances from Katy Perry, Bruce Springsteen, and many more.

Check back on Sunday for my recap of the weekend box office to see how some of the new movies mentioned above fared.