By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Captain America: The Winter Soldier chilled the competition with a jaw-dropping debut estimated at $95.8 million. The film set a new benchmark for biggest April box office opening and sales accounted for roughly 57% of all weekend revenues.
Rivals decided to avoid the Cap’s deluge … even the prospect of a counter-programmer. However, there was a veritable onslaught of niche newcomers including disappointing results of $350,000 for the multiple personality drama Frankie & Alice. Also struggling was the American supernatural indie Jinn with a $147,000 tally at 200 venues.
Exclusive debuts were generally dismal. The Brit gangster opus Dom Hemingway struggled to $31,300 from four screens. The sole upbeat exception was the offbeat alien saga Under the Skin that grossed an impressive $139,000, from four engagements.
Session revenues generated just shy of $170 million for a tidy 20% boast from the immediate prior weekend. Box office was also up 26% from 2013 when the launch of Evil Dead led with $25.8 million.
Tracking for the Captain America sequel was potent but pundits were cautious with estimates of $75-80 million. The film clearly defied the odds with a significant 64% male audience and 58% of the opening weekend crowd identified as couples. So clearly there was room in the marketplace for a female date movie. Roughly half the audience was aged between 18 and 35-years old with 57% overall aged 25-years and older.
Internationally, the Captain bowed last weekend to $75 million in 32 territories and upped the ante to 50 this weekend with an estimated $107 million including a $39 million bow in China and a $19 million launch in South Korea.
Holdover titles took it on the chin including a 61% decline for last week’s leader Noah. Still, the faithful continued to support the inspirational God’s Not Dead that’s been steadily adding theaters and remained in the top five with a $7.8 million gross for the frame and a $32.6 million cume.
| Weekend (estimates) April 4 – 6, 2014 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Captain America: The Winter Soldier | BV | 95.8 (24,330) | NEW | 3938 | 95.8 |
| Noah | Par | 17.1 (4,780) | -61% | 3571 | 72.4 |
| Divergent | Lionsgate | 12.9 (3,560) | -50% | 3631 | 114 |
| God’s Not Dead | FreeStyle | 7.8 (4,400) | -12% | 1765 | 32.6 |
| Muppets Most Wanted | BV | 6.3 (2,050) | -44% | 3052 | 42.1 |
| The Grand Budapest Hotel | Fox Searchlight | 6.2 (4,920) | -27% | 1263 | 33.3 |
| Mr. Peabody & Sherman | Fox | 5.3 (1,800) | -42% | 2931 | 102.2 |
| Need for Speed | BV | 1.8 (1,020) | -57% | 1779 | 40.8 |
| Sabotage | Open Road | 1.8 (740) | -65% | 2486 | 8.7 |
| Non-Stop | Uni | 1.8 (1,060) | -54% | 1724 | 88.1 |
| Bad Words | Focus | 1,6 (1,520) | -36% | 1074 | 6 |
| 300: Rise of an Empire | WB | 1.4 (930) | -66% | 1555 | 104 |
| The Lego Movie | WB | 1.4 (1,040) | -53% | 1350 | 250.6 |
| Cesar Chavez | Lionsgate | 1.0 (1,480) | -66% | 664 | 4.6 |
| Frozen | BV | .37 (1,150) | 9% | 321 | 398.9 |
| Frankie & Alice | Lionsgate | .35 (2,060) | NEW | 171 | 0.35 |
| Lunchbox | Sony Classics | .33 (3,230) | 5% | 103 | 1.3 |
| The Single Moms Club | Lionsgate | .32 (760) | -71% | 425 | 15.6 |
| Son of God | Fox | .31 (640) | -71% | 481 | 58.5 |
| Le Weekend | Music Box | .30 (2,890) | 39% | 103 | 0.85 |
| The Nut Job | Open Road/eOne | .25 (870) | -20% | 285 | 63.5 |
| Gravity | WB | .23 (900) | 88% | 255 | 273.6 |
| The Monuments Men | Sony | .21 (740) | -50% | 293 | 76.9 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $162.20 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 26% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | 20% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Island of Lemurs: Madagascar | WB | .18 (4,810) | 37 | 0.18 | |
| Main Tera Hero | Eros | .17 (2,160) | 77 | 0.17 | |
| Jinn | FreeStyle | .15 (740) | 200 | 0.15 | |
| Under the Skin | A24 | .14 (34,650) | 4 | 0.14 | |
| The Raid 2 | Sony Classics | .13 (5,070) | -20% | 26 | 0.35 |
| Finding Vivian Maier | IFC | 97,400 (6,090) | 29% | 16 | 0.21 |
| Rowdy | 24 Frames | 87,200 (1,900) | 46 | 0.09 | |
| Afflicted | CBS | 72,700 (1,650) | 44 | 0.07 | |
| Nymphomaniac: Volume 1 | Magnolia | 71,800 (1,330) | -42% | 54 | 0.51 |
| Main Karate | ATMUS | 69,600 (2,580) | 27 | 0.07 | |
| Particle Fever | Abramorama | 55,400 (1,630) | -20% | 34 | 0.53 |
| Jodorowsky’s Dune | Sony Classics | 48,300 (3,020) | 34% | 16 | 0.16 |
| Tim’s Vermeer | Sony Classics | 46,800 (730) | -48% | 64 | 1.5 |
| The Unknown Known | Weinstein Co. | 44,200 (2,950) | 15 | 0.04 | |
| 9 mois ferme | Metropole | 32,600 (3,630) | 9 | 0.03 | |
| Dom Hemingway | Searchlight | 31,300 (7,820) | 4 | 0.03 | |
| La Garde | Seville | 17,800 (1,270) | 14 | 0.02 | |
| Recep Ivedik 4 | Camasirhane | 14,700 (1,840) | 8 | 0.01 | |
| Cas & Dylan | Pacific Northwest | 8,900 (1,760) | 5 | 0.01 | |
| Something Wicked | Brillstein | 8,800 (8,800) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Watermark | eOne | 8,500 (4,250) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Ilo Ilo | Film Movement | 8,400 (4,200) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| The Birder | Union Pics | 5,800 (5,800) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| The Galapagos Affair | Zeitgeist | 5,700 (5,700) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| In the Blood | Anhor Bay | 5,300 (380) | 14 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 1 – April 3, 2014) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Mrkt Share | |||
| Warner Bros. (8) | 479.9 | 19.60% | |||
| Universal (8) | 377.9 | 15.40% | |||
| Sony (8) | 281.9 | 11.50% | |||
| Paramount (8) | 276.4 | 11.30% | |||
| Buena Vista (7) | 259.1 | 10.60% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (7) | 211.3 | 8.60% | |||
| Lionsgate (10) | 197.1 | 8.00% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (7) | 69.1 | 2.80% | |||
| Open Road (4) | 65.5 | 2.70% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (3) | 45.6 | 1.90% | |||
| Focus (3) | 35.5 | 1.40% | |||
| Relativity (3) | 31.7 | 1.30% | |||
| eOne/Seville (10) | 29.1 | 1.20% | |||
| FreeStyle (2) | 24.8 | 1.00% | |||
| Other * (90) | 65.4 | 2.70% | |||
| 2450.3 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.45% |
