Cameron Diaz’s new revenge comedy The Other Woman booted Captain America from the number one spot and enjoyed a strong debut driven by adult women. The Fox hit bowed to an estimated $24.7M from 3,205 locations for a fantastic $7,707 average.
Critics were harsh on the PG-13 laugher but bad reviews got trumped by starpower (Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, and Nicki Minaj co-starred) and concept (stories about revenge against cheating men sell very well). Diaz has long been a bankable star, especially in comedies. Other Woman is her 14th film over the past 20 years to open north of $20M. The highly-paid actress may add another to her long list with July’s raunchy comedy Sex Tape which is likely to earn an R rating which is what Woman got before it was changed on appeal.
Audience satisfaction has been decent for the $40M-budgeted Woman. The B+ CinemaScore grade is nothing to brag about, but indicates that customers were generally satisfied with what they got for their money. With very little connecting with young adult women over the past two months, an underserved audience came out in large numbers. Females made up 75% of the crowd and 65% were over 25.
After a three-week reign, Captain America: The Winter Soldier got bumped down a notch to second place but still held up well grossing an estimated $16M in its fourth weekend. The Disney release upped its domestic haul to $224.9M allowing it to beat Fast Five’s $209.8M to become the highest-grossing film to ever open in April. Megahits can come out of any part of the calendar when audiences are genuinely excited. Winter Soldier has now grossed more than all past Captain America, Hulk, and Thor movies and may finish its run close to the $262M of The Amazing Spider-Man. That’s an amazing feat for a non-Spidey film playing during the spring.
Overseas cash continued to roll in for the new Captain. This weekend saw an estimated $16M from overseas in its fifth frame sending the international take soaring to $420.3M including a phenomenal $107.6M from China. The worldwide cume has climbed to $645.2M beating the final global grosses of each of the first two Iron Man films. Crossing $700M will be easy.
Marvel will steal back the number one spot next weekend with another super hero sequel, Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which opened in a large number of new international markets this weekend grossing a fantastic $67.2M bumping the offshore tally to $132M ahead of Thursday night’s U.S. launch. IMAX screens have been especially hot particularly in Japan and Korea. Along with domestic, over 30 new markets debut next weekend including key territories like China, Brazil, and France.
The year’s latest Christianity-based hit Heaven Is For Real followed in third place with an estimated $13.8M in its sophomore frame boosting the cume to a stellar $51.9M to date. The Sony release is the fourth faith-based hit this year to break the $50M gross mark following Son of God, God’s Not Dead, and the expensive tentpole Noah. Three of the four were low-cost films attracting large paying audiences. Heaven may end at about $80M, or more than six times its $12M budget.
Toon sequel Rio 2 enjoyed another moderate hold in its third flight with an estimated $13.7M, off 38%. Fox may end with roughly $125M from North America.
The late Paul Walker found himself in fifth place with the action title Brick Mansions which failed to make much of a dent at the box office with an opening weekend of an estimated $9.6M. Averaging a mild $3,627 from 2,647 locations, the PG-13 pic tried to play to fans of the actor who tragically died last November. However, outside of his signature Fast & Furious franchise, Walker has rarely been a box office draw on his own. Reviews were lackluster for Relativity’s Mansions and the CinemaScore was a decent B+.
Johnny Depp’s box office bomb Transcendence collapsed in its second weekend crumbling 62% to an estimated $4.1M for a measly $18.5M to date. The Warner Bros. release is likely to finish its domestic run at about $25M. That would be the worst performance of Depp’s entire career in major films playing in 3,000+ theaters. Unlike with many effects-driven action films, Transcendence is not likely to be saved by its international run.
2014’s horror slump continued as Lionsgate failed to attract fright fans to its newest chiller The Quiet Ones which debuted horribly with an estimated $4M from 2,027 locations for a puny $1,973 average. Reviews were weak and the C+ CinemaScore was dull, but about normal for this genre. With teens and young adults going to the multiplexes less often in general, low-budget horror films are finding their core audience disappearing making for very few success stories in the first four months of this year. Plus known brands through sequels and remakes have been largely absent from the calendar so far in 2014.
The Disney doc Bears dropped only 25% in its second weekend to an estimated $3.6M for a $11.2M total on its way to a finish of around $20M. Off 36% in its sixth round, the sci-fi pic Divergent also collected an estimated $3.6M and has banked $139.5M to date. A Haunted House 2 tumbled 63% in its sophomore session after a weak opening and took in an estimated $3.3M. With only $14.2M so far, the Open Road sequel should end up with about $20M and no future installments.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $96.4M which was up a healthy 23% from last year when Pain & Gain opened at number one with $20.2M; and up 6% from 2012 when Think Like A Man remained on top for a second time with $17.6M.
