It seems that a Wednesday launch is looking really good for Hollywood movies due for release this season, as a mid-week opening proved to be quite successful in what concerns high earnings.

A flood of productions arriving in North American theaters until September are debuting on a Wednesday - although Wednesday was long believed to be a movie-going numb weekday - as studios make an attempt to raise early raves for their films before the already traditional Friday visit to the movie theater complex arrives.

For instance, two of the most recent illustrations of this strategy are “Pineapple Express,” a marijuana-fueled comedy from Sony Pictures Entertainment, and “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2,” a girlish and sparkly drama from Warner Bros. Both movies debuted on Wednesday, shored up by generally good reviews and, according to executives of the two major distributors, positive reactions from audiences at test screenings, Reuters reported.

The same source cited Jeff Goldstein, executive vice president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros., as saying: “We look at these first two days, today and tomorrow, as being almost like sneak previews for the weekend.”

However, in what concerns “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” sequel, Warner was partially encouraged by the success of two other films on similar subjects that opened on the same weekday: Walt Disney Co.’s “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” in 2004 and “Freaky Friday” one year earlier, Goldstein added, cited by Reuters.

Box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian confirmed that launching a movie ahead of the weekend can augment the constructive publicity encircling a movie, provided that the film rings a bell to moviegoers.