1) Divergent- 55M Weekend, 55M Total
Divergent emerged the victor of the weekend. Some people would call this opening a disappointment, but those same people have been championing the idea that Divergent is NOT the Hunger Games. In fact, Divergent may follow closer along the lines of the Twilight franchise, where the first Twilight film opened only to 69M, a lower figure considering the rest of the series. Divergent already has a greenlit sequel in the works, and that one could open stronger given the base of Divergent.
2) Muppets Most Wanted- 17M Weekend, 17M Total
So, the Muppets opened below expectations. Like I said earlier, the sequel was never going to top the original. The original opened over Thanksgiving Day weekend, and had the bonus nostalgia factor of people not having seen The Muppets on the big screen in quite some time. The fact that the film made even 17M suggests that there still is a viable audience for the Muppets franchise, especially if the studio wants to continue to open the franchise outside of holiday periods. Before the reboot, the Muppets had gotten to an all-time-low with Muppets From Space, which opened to 4.8M on its way to a 16.6 final. Muppets Most Wanted outgrossed it in three days.
3) Mr Peabody and Sherman- 11M Weekend, 80.5M Total
The Dreamworks Animation film had a sharper dip than I thought it would this weekend, possibly due to Muppets diluting the marketplace for families (Lego Movie and Frozen are still in wide release). This isn’t quite a Turbo for Dreamworks, as it is clear this film will pass 100M, but it is still probably a Dreamworks feature they’d like to forget. The legs just aren’t as strong as they’d like them to be.
4) 300: Rise Of An Empire- 8M Weekend, 93M Total
300: Rise of An Empire came nowhere near the gross of the original, yet people weren’t exclaiming how the 300 franchise was dead. Funny how basically Muppets Most Wanted had the same situation, yet 300 is a hit, and Muppets is a disappointment.
5) God’s Not Dead- 7.5M Weekend, 7.5M Total
The big surprise here is God’s Not Dead, which stormed the box office featuring a bunch of Christian celebrities. I honestly have no idea what this movie is about. I can tell you that three days into release, not a single critic has bothered to even consider reviewing it for Rotten Tomatoes. Whatever this film is, the movie community has decided it doesn’t exist, and they’re just letting Christians watch it. If it sucks, oh well. Faith based movies need not be reviewed.
6) Need For Speed- 7M Weekend, 30M Total
Need For Speed saw a harsh drop this week, over 50%. I don’t forsee any Need For Sequels anytime soon.
7) The Grand Budapest Hotel- 6.3M Weekend, 12.3M Total
An impressive 20K average for Wes Anderson’s well-reviewed comedy. This is definitely one of the success stories of the spring, and is sure to continue flexing its muscles next weekend when it goes into 800 screens.
8) Non Stop- 6M Weekend, 78.4M Total
9) The Lego Movie- 3.7M Weekend, 242.9M Total
10) Tyler Perry’s The Single Mom’s Club- 3M Weekend, 12.8M Total