Weekend Wrap-Up: Neighbors were Louder than Expected

May 13, 2014

Neighbors poster

Neighbors got off to a much faster start than expected, as did many of the top five films. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 fell more than 60% during its sophomore stint, but that was expected, at least it was inline with my expectations. Overall, the box office still fell from last weekend, but by 11% to $137 million, which isn't as bad as it could have been. It was down 14% from the same weekend last year, but that's a huge improvement from what it was last weekend, so in a small way, it is a bit of a victory. Year-to-date, 2014 has pulled in $3.45 billion, putting it 5.4% ahead of 2013's pace. That's down from its peak, but even if 2014 loses next weekend and the weekend after that, 2014 should still remain ahead of last year's pace.

Neighbors opened with $49.03 million, which is higher than nearly everyone expected. In fact, it is the highest opening for an R-rated comedy since Ted came out in 2012 and the fourth or fifth highest opening for an R-rated comedy of all time. (It depends on how you categorize Jackass 3D, which could be seen as a rather unique genre.) Its Tomatometer Score fell to 74% positive, which is well below its pre-weekend number, but still strong. It does have direct competition coming out at the end of the month. By that time, it will have broken even just on its domestic numbers.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 fell 61% to $35.50 million over the weekend for a total of $146.20 million after two weeks of release. This isn't a great result, given its production budget. Worse still, the next two weeks have direct competition, so it could begin to lose some of its theater count to the competition. It is performing better internationally, so it should break even, eventually. However, with four more Spider-man movies in the works, including two spin-offs, breaking even eventually isn't good enough.

The Other Woman earned third place with $9.61 million over the weekend for a total of $62.09 million after three weeks of release. This time next weekend it will be at over $70 million, which should be enough to cover its entire production budget, while it will have made enough internationally to cover its P & A budget. Whatever the studio gets on the home market will be pure profit.

Heaven is for Real was next with $7.48 million over the weekend for a total of $75.70 million after four weeks of release. It has already broken even and it should remain in the top ten for several more weeks.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a surprise entry in the top five with $5.74 million over the weekend pushing its running tally to $245.12 million. By this time next week, it will be over the $250 million market. It will top The LEGO Movie for top hit of the year by the end of the month, assuming nothing else gets there ahead of it.

The next new release of the week was Mom's Night Out, which only managed seventh place with $4.31 million over the weekend. Granted, it was only playing in 1,044 screens, so its per theater average was okay. It wasn't high enough to convince many theater owners to book it this coming weekend, but the ones who are showing it won't be looking to drop it as fast as they are contractually obligated to either. On the downside, its reviews are just 16% positive, so word-of-mouth might be an issue.

Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return was right behind with $3.72 million in 2,607 theaters giving the film a per theater average of $1,428. Add in reviews that are only 13% positive and this film will likely disappear from theaters A.S.A.P.


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Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Godzilla, Heaven is for Real, The Other Woman, Neighbors, Moms’ Night Out, Spider-Man