Weekend Wrap-Up: Winter Soldier Produces a Lot of Heat
April 7, 2014
So the first weekend of April was amazing. Not only did Game of Thrones set a series record for ratings (and the best for HBO since The Sopranos) but Captain America: The Winter Soldier set the April opening weekend of all time. Its opening was on the high end of expectations, which is great news, and this strength helped the overall box office grow by 19% from last weekend to $167 million. This is also 24% more than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2014 now has $2.55 billion, which is 7% more than 2013's running tally of $2.38 billion.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier opened with $95.02 million over the weekend and it is a little hard to describe just how impressive that opening is. It is nearly $10 million more than the previous record holder for biggest April opening weekend, Fast Five. It is also nearly $30 million more than the opening of Captain America: The First Avenger. Add in the film's amazing reviews, which are currently 89% positive, and the film could have strong legs over the month of March before The Amazing Spider-Man 2 debuts in May. At this pace, $250 million domestically is a solid goal, while it could reach $600 million worldwide. This is more than enough to cover all of its $170 million production budget.
Noah was clobbered by the competition falling 61% to $16.95 million over the weekend for a total of $72.29 million after two. It is still on pace to reach $100 million domestically, but it will need help internationally and on the home market to break even, but this is a good start.
Divergent was inline with expectations with $12.98 million over the weekend for a total of $114.01 million after three weeks of release. We still need to see how well it will do international, as not all YA adaptations do well overseas. If it does do well, it will break even before it reaches the home market.
God's Not Dead earned fourth place with $7.76 million over the weekend for a total of $32.56 million after three weeks of release. It very likely has already broken even and it should stick around in theaters for several more weeks.
Muppets Most Wanted stuck around the top five one more weekend with $6.15 million giving it a running tally of $42.00 million. It cost $55 million to make, so if it can match that internationally, it will break even, eventually.
The Grand Budapest Hotel came really close to the top five with $6.12 million over the weekend for a total of $33.20 million after a month of release. It should top Moonrise Kingdom soon and it could become Wes Anderson's biggest domestic hit.
There was only one film in the sophomore class not in the top five, Sabotage, which fell to eighth place with just under $2.00 million over the weekend for a total of $8.86 million after two. This is a 62% decline and drops its per theater average of $804. By Friday, its theater count will be slashed.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Noah, Divergent, Muppets Most Wanted, Sabotage, The Grand Budapest Hotel, God’s Not Dead, Wes Anderson