Weekend Estimates: Captain America Sets New April Record
April 6, 2014
The evolution of the Avengers universe is working out very well for Disney. In November, Thor enjoyed a bump from $65 million to $85 million on opening weekend (and an almost $200 million boost in final worldwide box office). Now, Captain American: Winter Soldier is topping the first movie in its sub-franchise by $30 million or so on opening weekend, with a projected total of $96.2 million, compared to $65 million last time around. With excellent reviews, and a better global launch, we could be looking at another $600 million in the bank before this one is finished. Into the bargain, the film will easily be the record weekend in April, comfortably ahead of the $86 million earned by Fast Five back in 2011.
Disney clearly took a risk by rolling out Winter Soldier in April, which is about a month earlier than usual for a tentpole film. That gave them room to open Guardians of the Galaxy in August, and hopefully take advantage of two Summer releases. Whether that proves to be too much for moviegoers remains to be seen, but it certainly gives them a shot at bringing in $1 billion plus to the franchise at the box office this year, after $1.5 billion in 2012 and $1.8 billion last year. No other franchise has come close to generating that kind of income in such a short space of time.
Unsurprisingly, no-one wanted to open a film against Captain America, so the rest of the chart this weekend looks quite familiar. God's Not Dead continues to do excellent business, with a predicted $7.7 million for the weekend from 1,758 theaters. It moves up a place to 4th in its third weekend. Biblical action movie Noah will drop a steep 60% to around $17 million for a 10-day total of $72 million. Divergent is off another 49% this weekend, but has passed the $100 million mark comfortably at this point.
In limited release, two films stand out this weekend. Under the Skin will rack up about $140,000 in four theaters to top the theater averages with $35,000 per venue. Island of Lemurs: Madagascar is meanwhile set for $185,000 in 37 IMAX locations for a solid $5,000 average.
Bruce Nash bruce.nash@the-numbers.com
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Under the Skin, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Noah, Divergent, Island of Lemurs: Madagascar, God’s Not Dead