Weekend Wrap-Up
Godzilla Crushes Box Office
By Tim Briody
May 18, 2014
The summer movie season has just started and Hollywood will be very happy if things the first three weekends are any indication.
Godzilla is easily the #1 movie of the weekend with $93.2 million. Most prognostications figured a $60-70 million opening but we’ve got a pleasant surprise at the box office for the second weekend in a row.
As we reported yesterday, Godzilla took in $38.5 million on Friday, with about $9 million coming from late Thursday showings. Captain America: The Winter Solider still has the highest opening weekend of the year, but that’s the biggest single day of 2014 so far. Despite bad memories about Godzilla ’98 and a virtual unknown in director Gareth Edwards, there was a good deal to be concerned with regarding its box office potential. However, most of the current audience was likely too young to back then to care, and combined with an awesome marketing campaign and surprisingly positive reviews (72% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes), you get the formula for a breakout. It played well in IMAX too, which was responsible for $14 million of its weekend.
This is a big win for Warner Bros. as it cost them a relatively reasonable $160 million and it stands a good chance of surpassing that by the end of Memorial Day weekend. Add in the worldwide grosses and this is an investment that will pay off.
In second place is Neighbors, coming off a breakout weekend of its own. It took in $25.9 million, down 47% which gives it $91.5 million in ten days. It’s got the holiday weekend coming up to send it towards the $175 million mark. Not bad for an $18 million budget.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 takes third place with $16.8 million, giving it a total of $172.1 million to date. It’s down 52.6% from last weekend. While it’s headed for $200 million in a couple more weekends, $220 million seems to be the best case scenario, down a good deal from Amazing Spider-Man’s $262 million final take. Still, it plays well overseas so the franchise will keep going.
Fourth place goes to the weekend’s other opener, Million Dollar Arm. It took in $10.5 million on the weekend so the feel good sports story doesn’t hit a home run but doesn’t strike out either. Jon Hamm hasn’t been able to turn his recognition from Mad Men into as much success on the big screen, and I’m sure Disney was hoping the cross-cultural film to have a bigger weekend, but it did only cost $25 million and won’t be a big loser for them.
The Other Woman takes fifth with $6.3 million which gives it $71.4 million after four weekends. That alone is impressive for the female targeted comedy with a $40 million budget but it’s also earned nearly that much internationally as well. It’s definite hit for Fox and Cameron Diaz, and will end up with around $90 million.
The poster child for faith-based films in 2014, Heaven Is For Real comes in sixth with $4.4 million, giving it a solid $82.2 to this point after five weekends. With just a $12 million budget, it’s one of the year’s more profitable films and I’d expect one last marketing push among the target audience to push it over the $100 million mark in a few more weeks.
Rio 2 takes seventh with $3.8 million giving the animated sequel $118 million after six weekends. The first film earned $143.6 million three years ago but Rio 2 doesn’t have that much left in the tank, but a final domestic total of $130 combined with international grosses ensures the existence of a Rio 3.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is in eighth place with $3.7 million and it now stands at $250.6 million in seven weeks. Credit The Avengers for the tremendous increase from the first film to this one, as it cruises towards the $270 million mark.
The biggest flop of 2014 to date also earns a second weekend in the top ten as Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return is tenth with $1.9 million and $6.5 million in two weekends. That’s not even close to the $70 million budget that this reportedly cost. Ouch.
Lastly, Mom’s Night Out gets another weekend in the top ten with $1.9, giving it $7.3 million in two weekends. The faith-based genre’s attempt at a comedy, it only cost TriStar $5 million so it’s not a total loss but it takes a little bit of the shine off off the success of Heaven Is For Real.
Next weekend is the Memorial Day weekend and leading the way is X-Men: Days of Future Past along with the reuniting of Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler in Blended.
| 1 |
Godzilla |
Warner Bros |
$93,205,000 |
New |
$93,205,000 |
| 2 |
Neighbors |
Universal |
$25,991,350 |
-47 |
$91,516,555 |
| 3 |
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 |
Sony |
$16,800,000 |
-54 |
$172,170,000 |
| 4 |
Million Dollar Arm |
Disney |
$10,511,000 |
New |
$10,511,000 |
| 5 |
The Other Woman |
IFC Films |
$6,300,000 |
-34 |
$71,664,200 |
| 6 |
Heaven Is For Real |
Sony |
$4,440,000 |
-41 |
$82,249,000 |
| 7 |
Rio 2 |
Fox |
$3,800,000 |
-24 |
$118,051,300 |
| 8 |
Captain America: the Winter Soldier |
Disney |
$3,759,000 |
-35 |
$250,627,000 |
| 9 |
Legends of Oz |
Clarius Ent. |
$1,951,887 |
-47 |
$6,558,908 |
| 10 |
Moms' Night Out |
Sony |
$1,900,000 |
-56 |
$7,300,000 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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