Captain America fended off Rio 2’s plucky parrots at the global box office as Winter Soldier retained the top spot for the second week in a row. Disney and Marvel Studios’ action flick once again claimed the domestic throne with $41.4 million, 56% off from its debut, bringing its domestic total to $159 million. Overseas, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier managed $60.6 million. The Chris Evans vehicle with Saumel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, and Robert Redford has earned $476 .1 million in just two weeks, already beating the original Captain America’s entire run by over $100 million.
Although Rio 2 failed to claim number one at home it did lead the international box office at $62.3 million. The animated feature, voiced by Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg, finished number one in 35 territories with particularly strong showings in China
($12 million) Mexico ($8 million) and France (4.6 million). Another strong weekend in Brazil brought the animated feature’s total in the nation of it’s setting to $18.9 million. Domestic weekend returns were hurt by a nationwide spell of excellent weather as families took advantage of sunshine and warm temperatures after a long, harsh winter. Rio 2 managed $39 million in its North American opening, falling short of projections that ranged between $40 million and $45 million. With a cumulative global total of over $164 million so far, Fox execs won’t be bothered about playing second fiddle to Captain America 2. Coming in at a distant third Noah added a further $36.2 million to take its international haul to $162 million. Darren Aronofsky’s Russell Crowe-helmed biblical opened in eight more markets over the weekend including France, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Thailand. Domestically the picture finished sixth at $7.4 Million, behind Divergent and newcomers Oculus and Draft Day.
Fellow Christian themed movie God’s Not Dead took in $5.9 million for an impressive total of $40.7 million. The drama, which was produced on a $2 million budget, has shown the potential of the previously unexploited ultra-religious market.
Relativity Media scored $12 million opening with its Toronto Midnight Madness Festival acquisition Oculus. The paranormal horror film pits Karen Gillan, known for playing Amy Adams on perennial British sci-fi series Doctor Who, against a demonic mirror. With an estimated budget of $5 million, we may end up seeing an Oculus 2 soon.
The weekend’s next largest domestic opener Draft Day exceeded its $8 million projections to take home $9.8 million in it’s opening weekend. Directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Kevin Costner, the film centers on the general manager of the Cleveland Browns as he tries to mitigate the combined stress of the NFL draft and a string of personal crises. This is the fourth Costner release in the last year as the Oscar and Golden Globe winning actor tries to reignite his career. Draft Day however may not be the vehicle that propels him back into his former glory. The football drama, which also features Jennifer Garner, Frank Langella, and Sam Elliot, is expected to peak at a total in the range of $30 million.
On the independent scene, Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive opened to a respectable $96,976 on 24 screens. Sony Pictures may choose not to expand the vampire film, which features Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as the odd couple of the title. They can however expect a more than decent return from home media and digital, as the picture looks set to become a cult favorite.
Fellow indie icon Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel earned another $4 million domestically and $7.3 million abroad to reach an international cumulative of $103 million.
It scored $1.78 million in Australia for the director’s biggest ever opening in the country. Grand Budapest opened in Italy at number 2 for $1.03 million, another personal record
for Anderson.
Finally, Frozen collected yet another accolade as it overtook Skyfall to reach number 8 in the all time pantheon at $1.113 billion.
Lorenzo Soria [gallery:3390]