Three new movies hit wide release this last weekend (one was wide-ish) and they were extremely varied in content. “Divergent” is the next YA trilogy in the steps of Hunger Games and Twilight. “Muppets Most Wanted” is…you know damn well what it is. Last is “God’s Not Dead” which I had never heard of, and after some research it is basically the movie version of a chain mail about the atheist professor proved wrong about god. I’m actually surprised it made money based on the reviews. However, I’m also surprised that Muppets didn’t do better so maybe I’m out of touch.
- Divergent: A very solid $54.6 million but there was some huge marketing money behind this one, it needs to keep earning to be a strong success.
- Muppets Most Wanted: A surprising $17 million, on a $50 million budget and middling reviews. This looks bad for Kermit.
- Mr. Peabody & Sherman: A 45% drop in its 3rd week but still doing OK at $11.9. Big budget to recoup however.
- God’s Not Dead: $9.2 million at only 780 theaters is a pretty great opening. Reviews are bad but it has a very specific audience.
- 300: Rise of An Empire: With a 56% drop in its third week to $8.5 it is actually doing better than the #3 flick with $12 million more total domestic gross.
“Noah” hits this next weekend which should be interesting but, there isn’t much coming with it. “Sabotage” is another Aging Arnold action flick that may make it into the top 5 but everything else is limited. At this point I’m just salivating for Winter Solider.