Sorry, Kermie, the Muppets weren’t the most wanted stars this weekend. Audiences took, shall we say, a more divergent path.
Divergent, the newest aspiring movie franchise based on a series of young adult books, got off to a strong $56 million start this weekend to lap the rest of the box office field. OK, so its numbers weren’t quite on the level of Hunger Games (which had a $152.5 million opening weekend in 2012), nor even quite Twilight (which collected $69.6 million in its first frame in 2008). But it did waaaay better than, say, Vampire Academy, Beautiful Creatures, The Host or most other recent movie adaptations of YA books. Clearly, Divergent’s qualities fit quite well with what moviegoers were looking for.
In contrast, Muppets Most Wanted wasn’t exactly a felt need for audiences and was practically helpless against Divergent’s mighty onslaught. The weekend’s other highly anticipated newcomer finished a distant second with an estimated $16.5 million. And neither an evil Kermit doppelganger nor a smitten Russian Tina Fey nor Sam the Eagle’s massive badge could make up the deficit.
Part of the Muppets’ apparent opening weekend struggles might be attributed to the fact that families still aren’t through with Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Last week’s champ made another $11.7 million to finish a strong third, well ahead of 300: Rise of an Empire.
But the 300 sequel had some surprisingly stiff competition from below, too—from surprise Top Five finisher God’s Not Dead. The Christian apologetic movie surprised just about everyone, earning a stunning $8.6 million in just 780 theaters (compared to Rise of an Empire’s $8.7 million). That’s nearly an $11,000 per-theater average, for those of you keeping track at home. Only two movies—Divergent and The Grand Budapest Hotel—pulled in more per theater, proving that Christian audiences will go to more than one movie a year. (Son of God is still in theaters, too, finishing No. 11 this week and having earned a total of $55.6 million.)
Will Christian audiences be ready for another Bible-themed movie—one with way better special effects but perhaps a tentative connection to the actual Bible? We’ll soon find out: Noah will sail into theaters next week, giraffes and all.
Final figures update: 1. Divergent, $54.6 million; 2. Muppets Most Wanted, $17 million; 3. Mr. Peabody & Sherman, $11.8 million. God’s Not Dead did significantly better than even the early estimates suggested. It earned $9.2 million, supplanting 300: Rise of an Empire ($8.5 million) for fourth place.
Recent Comments