Despite three new wide releases that hit theaters, this weekend was an all-around disappointment at the box office.
One year ago, ‘Divergent‘ hit theaters and opened to a decent $54.6 million. Had the second franchise installment followed suit with the similar ‘Hunger Games’ series, it might have climbed 3.6% this weekend; however, ‘Insurgent‘ opened half a million dollars behind ‘Divergent’ – and that’s even with the added bonus of 3D tickets sales, which ‘Divergent’ didn’t have. From 3,875 locations, this weekend’s sequel debuted to $54 million. While that’s a solid opening, it’s not as strong as it should be. ‘Insurgent’ cost $110 million to produce and lost a lot of ground overseas against the early release of animated family flick ‘Home’. Internationally, ‘Insurgent’ grossed $47 million.
Disney’s live-action ‘Cinderella‘ remake got bumped down into second place with $34.4 million in its sophomore weekend. The 49% decline was nearly identical to those of ‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’ and ‘Maleficent’. Its ten-day total now sits at $122 million. The film’s international run continues moving at full steam. To date, the movie has grossed $131.1 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $253.1 million.
Last week’s fizzler ‘Run All Night‘ dropped 53% to third place. The $5.1 million second weekend raised its ten-day total to a mere $19.7 million.
Sean Penn’s new gritty action flick ‘The Gunman‘ had a very weak debut. From 2,816 location, the $40 million film opened in fourth place to an awful $5 million. The numbers look even worse when you take into account its pathetic per-screen average of $1,779.
‘Kingsman: The Secret Service‘ continues to be an unstoppable force. In its sixth week, the $81 million action flick eased 26% and landed in the #5 spot, adding another $4.6 million to its domestic run. Stateside, the Matthew Vaughn picture has earned $114.5 million. Overseas, it’s up to $180.6 million, giving it a global haul of $295.1 million.
Faith-based movies were highly successful in 2014, but 2015 doesn’t appear like it’s going to follow suit. Last year, ‘God’s Not Dead’ opened to $9.2 million. From the same filmmakers, this weekend’s ‘Do You Believe?‘ was only able to pull in $4 million and close in the #6 spot.
The Al Pacino dramedy ‘Danny Collins‘ kicked off on five screens and grossed $73,200. That translates to a $14,640 per-screen average that ought to be enough to expand its release wider over the next few weeks. ‘Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter‘ had a lesser opening from four locations. It made $37,200, for a $9,300 per-screen average. There’s no word if that’s good enough to warrant expansion.
Top 10:
1. ‘The Divergent Series: Insurgent’ (Lionsgate/Summit) – $54,025,000
2. ‘Cinderella’ (Buena Vista) – $34,492,000
3. ‘Run All Night’ (Warner Bros.) – $5,115,000
4. ‘The Gunman’ (Open Road) – $5,009,000
5. ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ (Fox) – $4,600,000
6. ‘Do You Believe?’ (PureFlix) – $4,000,000
7. ‘The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ (Fox Searchlight) – $3,450,000
8. ‘Focus’ (Warner Bros.) – $3,300,000
9. ‘Chappie’ (Sony) – $2,650,000
10. ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water’ (Paramount) – $2,350,000
