A rule of thumb to all box office prognosticators: never underestimate the power of an underrepresented women audience. The Cameron Diaz-Leslie Mann-Kate Upton comedy, The Other Woman, surpassed modest expectations to reach the #1 spot at the North American box office, grossing an estimated $24.7 million. Playing at 3,270 locations, the film averaged a solid $7,707 per theatre. Despite poor reviews (including mine), the lack of movies aimed at female audiences over the last two months helped to drive the higher-than-expected opening weekend.
The Other Woman almost reached the opening weekend heights of 2011’s Bridesmaids, which grossed $26.2 million in its first three days. Compared to other Cameron Diaz films, The Other Woman had a stronger opening weekend than What Happens in Vegas ($20.2 million), but fell short of Bad Teacher ($31.6 million). With a B+ rating on Cinemascore, it seems that audiences are enjoying the film more than critics. It could have staying power, too, with the Mother’s Day holiday approaching in a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, audiences kept hailing Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which grossed $16 million, dropping a reasonable 37% from last week’s holiday. The Winter Soldier has already outgrossed its predecessor and Thor: The Dark World by a large margin, and has made nearly $225 million state-side. Unless it drops like a rock once The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits, expect The Winter Soldier to pass the quarter-billion mark with ease, domestically.
Heaven is For Real took the #3 spot this week with $13.8 million, dropping only 39% from its opening weekend take. With $51.9 million since opening April 16, the faith-based family drama has earned far more than its $12 million budget. It should close with around $85-90 million, potentially going higher if it can serve as counter-programming to big summer blockbusters.
In fourth place this weekend was Rio 2, with an estimated $13.65 million, a moderate 38% drop from its take Easter weekend. The animated sequel has grossed $96.2 million so far, but is still lagging behind the pace of the first film, which had made $104 million by the same point in its run. With Spidey taking family audiences away next weekend, Rio 2 should end up falling short of its predecessor in North America. A tally in the neighbourhood of $125 million seems likely.
As for the week’s other openers, neither fared well. The action-thriller Brick Mansions opened in fifth, with $9.6 million from 2,647 locations (for a mild $3,627 a theatre). The film, which stars the late Paul Walker, was not supposed to pick up much and should be out of the Top 10 within a couple of weeks. Even unluckier was Lionsgate’s horror film The Quiet Ones, which debuted with only $4 million to take seventh place. A lack of online buzz, poor reviews and lots of competition for teens did not help the film. Although 2013 had many big horror hits, 2014 has struggled to release a single one so far.
On the limited release side, the Tom Hardy thriller Locke saw solid results, grossing $89,210 from only 4 cinemas. Less successful on the thriller front were the Argentinean film The Good Doctor (around $35,000 from 5 theatres) and the critically acclaimed Blue Ruin (nearly $32,000 from seven cinemas).
Finally, Frozen hit what should be its last milestone of its legendary box office run. On its 155th day of release, Disney’s Oscar-winning musical hit the $400 million milestone in the U.S. It is the sixth Disney film to reach that box office pinnacle and it debuted way out of the top 20 with an estimated $152,000.
Here are the box office estimates for the Top 10 films this weekend of April 25 through April 27, 2014:
1. The Other Woman – $24.7 million (NEW)
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – $16 million (224.9 million total)
3. Heaven is For Real – $13.8 million ($51.9 million total)
4. Rio 2 – $13.65 million ($96.2 million total)
5. Brick Mansions – $9.6 million (NEW)
6. Transcendence – $4.1 million ($18.5 million total)
7. The Quiet Ones – $4 million (NEW)
8. Bears – $3.6 million ($11.2 million total)
9. Divergent – $3.6 million ($139.5 million total)
10. A Haunted House 2 – $3.3 million ($14.2 million total)
NOTE: These numbers are weekend estimates based on Friday and Saturday’s estimated takes. Actual numbers will be reported on Monday afternoon.