The summer movie season kicked off this weekend with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which scored a big but not spectacular #1 opening with an estimated $92 million. Marc Webb’s sequel to Sony’s franchise reboot did not match industry expectations and opened lower than Captain America: The Winter Soldier did four weeks ago (that film debuted with $95 million). However, it is hard to imagine that Sony will be too disappointed, especially with a sizzling $116 million added to the worldwide coffer this weekend. Internationally, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has made $277 million so far ($369 million if you add the North American take).
The superhero sequel opened with $35.5 million on Friday (including $8.7 from Thursday evening shows), dropped a milder-than-usual 7 per cent to $33.1 million on Saturday and is predicted to drop 29 per cent to $23.4 million on Sunday. The strength of the film on Saturday and Sunday is due to a large share of family audiences, who made up around a third of the crowds this weekend.
Although the $92 million is big, it is still a bit low in comparison to other May summer openings. It is only 53 per cent of the take of last summer’s Iron Man 3, which took in $174.1 million over three days. Furthermore, it is only 80 per cent of what the original 2002 Spider-Man made in its record-breaking opening weekend. Also, Sam Raimi’s film opened with much lower ticket prices and no 3D surcharge available. It’s also important to remember that Spider-Man had the biggest opening weekend ever when it released in 2002. In comparison, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has the 32nd biggest opening weekend, as the numbers stand (14th of all May releases).
Based on a smaller-than-expected opening and with a lot of intense summer competition up ahead (especially Godzilla on May 16 and X-Men: Days of Future Past on May 23), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is almost guaranteed to end up with a lower gross than its predecessor, which closed with $262 million. So-so reviews and decent audience response (a B+ Cinemascore) make it hard to predict how hard the film will drop next weekend, but it should be interesting to see.
Far behind in second place was The Other Woman, with $14.2 million. It dropped a reasonable 43 per cent from its opening and has garnered a better-than-expected $47.3 million in 10 days. The Cameron Diaz comedy is benefitting from a lack of options toward adult women. However, with the buzzy, well-reviewed comedy Neighbors opening on Friday, The Other Woman may plummet a bit next weekend – even with the Mother’s Day holiday.
Holding well in third was Heaven is for Real, with $8.7 million. Dropping 39 per cent, the faith-based drama is also proving to be good counter-programming to big-budget blockbusters. With a $65.6 million take since its opening April 16, expect a finish with around $85 million.
In fourth and fifth were two sequels with different trajectories. Captain America: The Winter Soldier took fourth place with $7.8 million, a 52 per cent drop from last weekend. Though it’s a large drop, it was to be expected given the competition from the web-slinger. With $237.1 million so far, the film should cross the $250 million mark by Memorial Day. Meanwhile, Rio 2 dropped 45 per cent to take in $7.6 million in its fourth weekend. (In comparison, when Rio had its forth weekend against Thor in 2011, it dropped a slightly better 42 per cent to make $8.5 million.) The sequel continues to trail its predecessor and has made $106.4 million so far. Expect a final gross in the $125 million neighbourhood.
On the independent release front, period drama Belle had a strong opening, taking in $105,000 from only 4 theatres (a larger per-screen average than The Amazing Spider-Man 2). On the other hand, the comedy Walk of Shame did just that, grossing only $38,000 from 51 theatres, making less than $1,000 per theatre.
Here are the box office estimates for the Top 10 films this weekend of May 2 through May 4, 2014:
1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – $92.0 million (NEW)
2. The Other Woman – $14.2 million ($47.3 million total)
3. Heaven is for Real – $8.7 million ($65.6 million total)
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – $7.8 million ($237.1 million total)
5. Rio 2 – $7.6 million ($106.5 million total)
6. Brick Mansions – $3.5 million ($13.5 million total)
7. Divergent – $2.2 million ($142.7 million total)
8. The Quiet Ones – $2 million ($6.8 million total)
9. God’s Not Dead – $1.8 million ($55.6 million total)
10. The Grand Budapest Hotel – $1.7 million ($51.5 million total)
NOTE: These numbers are weekend estimates based on Friday and Saturday’s estimated takes. Actual numbers are reported on Monday afternoon.