''Barbershop 2'' will trim the competition

Two feel-good movies will battle it out at multiplexes this weekend, as ”Barbershop 2: Back in Business” and the ice-hockey drama ”Miracle” both stand to open well.

In what could be a very close one-two finish, ”Barbershop 2,” which reunites Ice Cube, Eve, and Cedric the Entertainer from the hit original (which grossed a total of $75.8 million) stands to come out on top. With strong early reviews and the addition of Queen Latifah, the sequel should snip away about $24 million this weekend.

”Miracle,” meanwhile, should draw sports fans still hyped up from last week’s Super Bowl. The story of the gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic hockey team, the film, which had successful sneak previews last weekend, features an impressive performance from Kurt Russell and all-around good buzz (like 2002’s baseball drama ”The Rookie”) and should debut with about $21 million.

Last week’s top film, the hip-hop drama ”You Got Served,” will slip about 50 percent to $8 million, while three films will jockey for fourth and fifth place. ”The Butterfly Effect” and ”Along Came Polly” will each drop to about $5 million, while the new family action film ”Catch That Kid,” from talented director (and husband of Julianne Moore) Bart Freundlich, appears from its ad campaign to be a lesser version of ”Spy Kids.” Without much audience interest, this ”Kid” should only make about $5 million.