New kid on the block Neighbors moved into number one over the weekend as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 lost its grip on the top spot. The latest feature from the extended Judd Apatow comedy syndicate, Neighbors puts new mommy and daddy Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen against a gang of frat boys led by Zac Efron and Dave Franco who move in next door. Slapstick hijinks ensue, and a clever marketing strategy which featured a SXSW festival premiere and a string of buzz-generating previews over the last month brought the comedy a very serious $51 million opening weekend. It’s safe to say that director Nicholas Stoller‘s 4th full length feature performed well above expectations as this weekend’s release was only the 14th instance of an R-rated film opening to more than $50 million in history. English and Australian audiences were similarly receptive, and sent the film, titled Bad Neighbors abroad, to number one with $14.7 million and $7.1 million respectively. And it translated well in 27 other territories, including a number one berth of $5.9 million in Germany, for an international total of $34.4 million and a commendable global cumulative of $85.5 million. Spider Man, which fell down a notch domestically, continued its reign abroad with a well-earned $69.5 million third weekend. Much of this figure was due to a $25 million dollar take in its first full weekend in China. Now eight days into its run, Spider-Man 2 has earned $54 million in the world’s second largest film market. North American numbers were rather more tame with second week income dropping 59% off of last week’s blockbuster $92 million opening to $37.1 million. This figure is in line with recent Marvel films Iron Man 3 and Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier who saw an average drop of 57% in the same time period. A global cumulative of $550.9 million puts Marc Webb’s sequel in a healthy position, though with domestic earnings of just $147.9 million and the incoming launch of Godzilla sure to dampen that figure it is now unlikely to equal the original’s $752.2 million global run.
Thinly veiled Christian comedy Moms’ Night Out opened to $4.2 million over the weekend, failing to cash in on the recent trend of over-performing faith based movies. Affirm Films, who also produced Christian Fireproof and Facing the Giants will recoup their $5 million budget but it doesn’t seem like they’ll be experiencing the breakout success enjoyed recently by God’s not Dead, Heaven is for Real, and Son of God. It finished seventh, placing it squarely behind Heaven’s fourth place $7 million haul. Now in its third week in theatres, director Randall Wallace’s uplifting best-seller adaptation is showing some serious staying power. A $77 million cumulative makes it the top performing niche religious film of the year.
Moms’ Night Out was not helped by having to compete with another female-focused drama, The Other Woman. The Cameron Diaz vehicle finished third with $9.6 million, proving to be rather resilient to Seth Rogen and his rowdy Neighbors.
Overseas the comedy added $13.1 million from 60 markets, including new territories Brazil, Argentina. With key markets France, Italy and Spain set to be breached in June, we can expect the $66.5 million international cumulative to rise a good deal more before the end of summer.
Rio 2 pulled in another $14.1 million from 70 territories to take its international total to $312 million, while holdover Noah tacked on $3.3 million from it’s 52 remaining markets to bring its international figure to $239 million.
Frozen is still number one in in Japan, after two months in the theaters. It added $7.1 million this weekend, passing the $ 150 million mark. Ochos Apellidos Vascos concluded its ninth consecutive weekend at the top of the Spanish charts with $1.8 million for a domestic total of $71.9 million, French phenomenon Qu’est-ce Qu’on A Fait Au Bon Dieu?! reached $56 million in its home market where it has been in theaters since April 16.
Lorenzo Soria