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‘Other Woman’ Grabs Box Office Crown From ‘Captain America’
“The Other Woman,” a romantic comedy from 21st Century Fox Inc. (FOXA) starring Cameron Diaz, edged aside “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” the returning superhero blockbuster, to take first place in its weekend debut.
The new movie collected $24.7 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, Rentrak Corp. (RENT)said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. “The Winter Soldier” generated $16 million for Walt Disney (DIS) Co. to place second after three weeks at the top. “Heaven Is for Real,” the returning faith-based movie from Sony Corp. starring Greg Kinnear, had receipts of $13.8 million to place third.
“The Other Woman,” which opened to negative reviews, achieved the top spot on a traditionally slow weekend in Hollywood’s calendar ahead of the summer blockbuster season this week that kicks off with the release of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” The Diaz movie was projected to collect $16.5 million by BoxOffice.com, a downgrade from the researcher’s earlier forecast of $18 million.
“This weekend is often thought of as the calm before the storm,” said Phil Contrino, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. “‘The Other Woman’ seems smart counterprogramming, with the market ready for something aimed at women.”
“The Other Woman,” which also features Leslie Mann and Kate Upton, tells the story of Carly (Diaz), who discovers not only that her boyfriend is married but is also having another affair. All three women team up to plot mutual revenge on the three-timer.
‘Winter Soldier’
The movie generated a positive rating of just 24 percent on Rottentomatoes.com., a review aggregator.
“Diaz has her hands full,” wrote Stephen Holden in the New York Times. “This female revenge comedy is so dumb, lazy, clumsily assembled and unoriginal, it could crush any actor forced to execute its leaden slapstick gags and mouth its crude, humorless dialogue.”
The movie follows Diaz’s last outing, “The Counselor,” the thriller released by Fox in October, which collected a disappointing $7.8 million in its debut.
Since its release on April 4, in the biggest opening of the year, “The Winter Soldier” has taken in $208.8 million domestically as of April 24, according to Box Office Mojo. The success of the film highlights the popularity of Disney’s Marvel superheroes and the decision to release a blockbuster earlier than usual before the summer rush of competing pictures. It was forecast to garner $15.3 million this past weekend.
Religious Movies
The movie picks up the story of super-soldier Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans, who battles a Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, it cost an estimated $170 million to produce, according to Box Office Mojo.
“Heaven Is for Real” has been buoyed by favorable reviews and the swell of biblical and religion-based movies released earlier this year that have also achieved success, including “Son of God” from Fox and “Noah” from Paramount Pictures. The movie, projected to collect $15.2 million in its second weekend by BoxOffice.com, has taken in $38.1 million domestically as of April 24, according to Box Office Mojo.
The film features Kinnear as a small-town father who backs up his young son after the boy glimpses the afterlife during a near-death experience.
‘Brick Mansions’
“Transcendence,” the sci-fi thriller starring Johnny Depp, slipped to sixth place, to collect $4.1 million for Warner Bros. It was projected to garner $4.7 million. After missing estimates in its debut, Warner Bros. said the movie had failed to connect with audiences, and leaves Depp still seeking a comeback film after “The Lone Ranger,” his tentpole picture with Disney, flopped last summer.
“Transcendence” took in $10.7 million in its opening weekend in China, just shy of its domestic debut of $10.9 million, as Depp made a promotional visit to the country.
In the two other new releases this past weekend, “Brick Mansions” from Relativity Media LLC collected $9.6 million to place fifth.
It features the late Paul Walker as an undercover Detroit cop who works with an ex-con to bring down a crime lord and thwart his plot to devastate the entire city. It garnered a 29 percent positive rating on Rottentomatoes.com and was estimated to collect $8.5 million.
Revenue Rises
“The Quiet Ones” ranked seventh, taking in $4 million for Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF) The horror film, about a university professor and a team of students who conduct an experiment on a young woman, and uncover terrifying forces in the process, had been forecast to collect $4.8 million. It got a 39 percent favorable rating on Rottentomatoes.com.
Weekend revenue for the top 10 films rose 23 percent to $96.4 million from the year-earlier period, Rentrak said. Domestic box-office sales year to date are $3.14 billion, up 9.4 percent from a year earlier.
The following table has U.S. movie box-office figures provided by studios to Rentrak. The amounts are based on gross ticket sales for April 25 and April 26 and estimates for yesterday.
Rev. Pct. Avg./ Total
Movie (mln) Chg. Theaters Theater (mln) Wks
===============================================================
1 THE OTHER WOMAN $24.7 -- 3,205 $7,707 $24.7 1
2 CAPTAIN AMERICA 16.0 -37 3,620 4,433 224.9 4
3 HEAVEN IS FOR REAL 13.8 -39 2,705 5,102 51.9 2
4 RIO 2 13.7 -38 3,703 3,686 96.2 3
5 BRICK MANSIONS 9.6 -- 2,647 3,627 9.6 1
6 TRANSCENDENCE 4.1 -62 3,455 1,188 18.5 2
7 THE QUIET ONES 4.0 -- 2,027 1,973 4.0 1
8 BEARS 3.61 -25 1,720 2,097 11.2 2
9 DIVERGENT 3.6 -36 2,066 1,742 139.5 6
10 HAUNTED HOUSE 3.3 -63 2,310 1,413 14.2 2
Top 10 Films Grosses
This Week Year Ago Pct.
(mln) (mln) Chg.
===================================
$96.4 $78.1 +23.4
Year-to-date Revenue
2014 2013
YTD YTD Pct.
(mln) (mln) Chg.
==================================
$3,137 $2,867 +9.4
Source: Rentrak Corp.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anousha Sakoui in London at asakoui@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.netBen Livesey, Sylvia Wier, Bruce Rule
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'Captain America' sequel shatters records with $96.2-million debut
The 3-D superhero film 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' has the best April opening ever. Biblical epic 'Noah,' meanwhile, sinks to second place.
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| Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson in "Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier." (Zade Rosenthal / Marvel)
Superhero sequel "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" soared in its opening weekend to a record-breaking $96.2 million in North America and a worldwide total to date of $303.3 million.
The $170-million 3-D film, starring Chris Evans as the shield-bearing superhero and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, is the top April opening of all time and more successful than its 2011 predecessor, "Captain America: The First Avenger," which made $65 million domestically in its first three days.
The sequel, directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, generated just over $207 million in its first 10 days overseas.
"The response has been fantastic," said Dave Hollis, Disney's head of distribution. "Coming out in April and setting a record is truly a great thing."
Next weekend, the film will open in Brazil, Hungary, Turkey and Trinidad. It opens in Japan on April 19.
The film, which opened in 3,938 locations in the U.S., had an A on CinemaScore and 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience consisted mostly of men (64%), people 25 and older (57%) and couples (58%).
Hollis partly attributed the film's success to its universal storyline.
"There's a contemporary feel with the overall story," he said. "It's not just an action movie but a character story."
In its second weekend, director Darren Aronofsky's biblical epic "Noah" fell 61% to the No. 2 spot, generating an estimated $17 million in ticket sales. "Noah" has now earned more than $72 million.
The long-anticipated Old Testament epic from Paramount Pictures and Regency Enterprises received a C from the polling firm CinemaScore and has drawn strong but divided opinions from people of faith and religious leaders.
In third place was "Divergent," which generated $13 million, bringing its estimated cumulative total to more than $114 million.
Based on a young adult novel series, the Lionsgate film, directed by Neil Burger and starring Shailene Woodley, tells the story of a young woman fighting for freedom and survival in a dystopian society. "Insurgent," the film's sequel, is scheduled to begin filming in May and will be released next March.
"God's Not Dead," screening in 1,758 theaters in the U.S., moved up to No. 4, making $7.7 million in its third weekend and an estimated total of $32.5 million.
The faith-based film, about a college student defending his beliefs against a professor, features Kevin Sorbo, Dean Cain, the popular Christian rock group Newsboys, and Willie and Korie Robertson from the "Duck Dynasty" television show as themselves.
Wes Anderson's "Grand Budapest Hotel" rounded the top five, with $6.3 million in ticket sales in its fifth week.
"We have now increased our theater count to 1,263 locations and are planning to add more theaters again this coming week," Frank Rodriguez, Fox Searchlight's head of distribution, said in an email. "We are surprised each weekend at how broad the response is for this terrific comedy with the stellar cast."
Also noteworthy in the U.S. top 10: "Muppets Most Wanted" fell 44% to finish sixth with $6.3 million; "Need for Speed" hung in at ninth with $1.84 million; and at No. 10, "Non-Stop," in its sixth week, generated about $1.83 million.
saba.hamedy@latimes.com
Source: www.latimes.com
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"Captain America: The Winter Soldier": Critics weigh in on superhero sequel
Captain America is back on the big screen this week, when the Marvel superhero suits up for his latest adventure in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."
The film opens in theaters Friday, and sees Steve Rogers Captain America (Chris Evans) struggling to adjust to his life and role in the modern world as he faces the titular new enemy (the Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Stan).
This is the third movie featuring the patriotic hero -- following "Captain America: The First Avenger" and then "The Avengers" -- and critics' takes on it have been positive, calling it complex, suspenseful and politically astute.
Here's what some of them had to say:
"[Fans] will not be disappointed in this second entry in the series, which takes the bold (for Marvel) step of reducing CGI spectacle to a relative minimum in favor of reviving the pleasures of hard-driving old-school action, surprising character development and intriguing suspense." - Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
"Fight scenes are tense, though occasionally it's hard to tell who's doing what to whom. But they have the bone-crunching crack of realism sometimes lacking in comic book movies. An early car chase involving [Samuel L, Jackson's character, Nick Fury] is spectacularly exciting." -- Claudia Puig, USA Today
"Taking inspiration from such hot-button topics as drone warfare, NSA spying and Wikileaks-style secret sharing, the screenplay by returning writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely is smart but never didactic about situating "The Winter Soldier" in a world where those on both sides of the political aisle have done much to compromise basic human freedoms in the name of defending them." -- Scott Foundas, Variety
"Chris Evans once again makes our hero a compellingly pensive, furrowed-browed demigod. He moves very fast, like a Bruce Lee of bionically enhanced aggression, but Evans lets us see how the forces Captain America is up against are weighing him down. It helps to have Robert Redford on hand, wittily cast as a CIA-spirited S.H.I.E.L.D. leader -- a cutthroat in a suit who drily understands the mathematics of power." -- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
While "The Winter Soldier" succeeds as finely engineered merchandise built to be crowd-pleasing entertainment, for moviegoers and shareholder alike, it has a shelf life that won't last much past its running time." -- Jake Coyle, Associated Press
"'The Winter Soldier' becomes progressively less enjoyable once the plot thickens and a menace looms, as Fury moves one chess piece, while Pierce moves another. Captain America doesn't move much, beyond cars and debris. However appealing, Mr. Evans remains a recessive screen presence, and while it may be a relief that Captain America isn't angst-ridden, he's blandly well adjusted for a guy who, in his last movie, emerged from a decades-long deep freeze." -- Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
"Summer popcorn movies are hereby put on notice to get cracking. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is every rousing, whup-ass thing you want in an escapist adventure. And did I detect a hint of depth under the dazzle? A little bit. So why kick a gift horse?" -- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Tell us: Are you going to see "The Winter Soldier"?
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