After three weeks on top of the box office Captain America has finally been taken off his perch by the sly charms of The Other Woman trio Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, and Kate Upton in her first starring role. Fed by a predominantly female audience who flocked to the season’s first “girl power” release, the Nick Cassavetes directed comedy jumped to$25 million over its opening weekend. Internationally, the comedy added another $20 Million to reach a global cumulative of $45 million.
Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier came in second place with a $16.2 million for a total domestic gross of $224.9 million, securing an all time April release record with the better part of a week to spare. Overseas the picture pulled in another $15 million throughout the weekend. Captain 2’s international total is now at $420.3 million, with $107.6 million coming from China alone. Third place remained once again in the hands of Christian film Heaven Is For Real. The TriStar production, which gave Secretariat director Randall Wallace just $12 million dollars to work with, has made $50 million in its first two weeks in North American theatres. Heaven’s continuing success adds credence to the 2014 phenomenon of the Christian faith based drama as a major genre for the future (or at least the present).
Marvel studios have no reason to fret about Captain America’s 2’s fall from number one as a second high-flying weekend brought The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to a global cumulative of $132 million. Stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Jamie Foxx helped the second installment of the series reboot to a number one release in major markets South Korea, Russia, and Italy. It took in $13.4 million, $8.9 million, and $6.5 million in each of these markets, respectively. The high paced action and comic relief which sets The Amazing Spider-Man 2 apart from the original trilogy earned it a third place debut of $5.2 million in Japan. With openings set for key markets China, Brazil, France, and India, as well as its domestic release on May 2 , Sony Pictures executives will be eagerly awaiting the stream of good news that is sure to flow in throughout the coming week.
Again on the domestic charts, Rio 2 had another strong week finishing fourth with receipts of $13.7 million. 20th Century Fox Animation’s highly successful sequel has made $96 million domestically, and passed the $250 million mark abroad over the weekend to arrive at a global cumulative of $346.2 million. With an Australian and South Korean release still on the horizon Rio 2 looks likely to beat the original’s international take of $341 million.
Slightly less family-friendly offering Brick Mansions, starring the late Paul Walker, opened fifth with a $9.6 million take from 2,647 theatres. The Luc Besson production pairs Walker with Wu-Tang Clan leader The Rza (Robert Fitzgerald Diggs) and French action star David Belle. Set in a Detroit even more dystopian than the real one, Brick Mansion, a remake of Besson’s French-language hit Banliueue 13 (District 13), tells the story of an undercover cop and an ex-con who team up to save the city from total destruction. With Fast & Furious 7 set to be released in April of 2015, this is the first of two slated posthumous films starring the beloved departed actor.
Sixth place belonged to Johnny Depp’s struggling sci-fi film Transcendence. In its second weekend the $100 million production only managed to $4.1 million. International numbers were slightly better at $10.8 million but with a cumulative of scarcely $51 million in its first two weeks, Warner Bros. and Summit Entertainment may be taking quite a hit on their last big spring gamble of the year.
British horror film The Quiet Ones opened to a very disappointing $4.1 million. With showings in over 2,000 theatres, the Hammer Film Productions property is now the second slowest major release of 2014.
Finally, Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel added another $5.1 million to reach a foreign cumulative of $82.7 million, while Frozen crossed the $400 million domestic mark, for a remarkable total of $1.14 billion
Lorenzo Soria [gallery:3391]