Noah is just the first of a number of "religiously-themed" movies of various sizes that are due out this year. Aronofsky brings a dark indie “edge” to the biblical drama along with a heavy-handed ecological message that evidently didn’t sit well with a portion of the audience. Noah only received a "C" CinemaScore, which typically heralds a box office demise, though in this case the movie was so polarizing that the grade may be misleading. Paramount reports that 15% of the audience gave the film a "D" or an "F," while 65% gave it an "A" or a "B" score. As might be expected the opening weekend audience for Noah was evenly split between the genders, and older, with 54% over 25. The prospects for Noah remain mixed, especially since it will face stiff competition in the coming weeks, though with solid reviews (76% positive) it could hang around for a while.
Last weekend’s winner Divergent declined just 51.5%, which has to be considered a solid "hold" for a film in this category. The $85 million production has now earned $95.2 million domestically, and is yet to open overseas.
Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted also enjoyed a strong "hold," as it declined just 33.1% and earned an estimated $11.3 million to bring its total to $33.2 million. This $50 million production will need to stay around for quite a while (and also do well overseas) in order to keep the franchise viable. Even the Jason Siegel/Amy Adams Muppet Movie that revived the franchise in 2011 didn’t make very much money, so this is a property that remains on the "edge."
Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): March 28-30, 2014 | ||||||
| Film | Weekend Gross | Screens | Avg./ Screen | Total Gross | Wk# |
1 | Noah | $44,000,000 | 3,567 | $12,335 | $44,000,000 | 1 |
2 | Divergent | $26,500,000 | 3,936 | $6,733 | $95,260,000 | 2 |
3 | Muppets Most Wanted | $11,373,000 | 3,194 | $3,561 | $33,210,000 | 2 |
4 | Mr. Peabody & Sherman | $9,500,000 | 3,299 | $2,880 | $94,909,000 | 4 |
5 | God's Not Dead | $9,075,000 | 1,178 | $7,704 | $22,028,000 | 2 |
6 | The Grand Budapest Hotel | $8,825,000 | 977 | $9,033 | $24,457,000 | 4 |
7 | Sabotage | $5,330,000 | 2,486 | $2,144 | $5,330,000 | 1 |
8 | Need for Speed | $4,335,000 | 2,705 | $1,603 | $37,753,000 | 3 |
9 | 300: Rise of An Empire | $4,300,000 | 2,601 | $1,653 | $101,145,000 | 4 |
10 | Non-Stop | $4,087,000 | 2,515 | $1,625 | $85,167,000 | 5 |
Dreamworks’ animated feature Mr. Peabody & Sherman also got off to a slow start in the current family film-clogged environment. The Jay Ward-inspired film declined just 19.7% in its fourth week of release as it brought its domestic total to $94.9 million.
Fifth place went to God’s Not Dead, a more conventional religiously-themed film that is doing solid business in flyover country. The film added nearly 400 theaters bringing its total to nearly 1,200, and its weekly total declined just 1.5%. This lower budget film has benefited from a targeted marketing campaign with the goal of getting pastors to recommend the film.
Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel moved up from #7 to #6 as it added 673 theaters bringing its total number of venues to 977. With the second highest average in the top ten ($9,033, trailing just Noah’s $12,335), The Grand Budapest Hotel, which has earned $24.5 million, appears to be the indie hit of the spring.
Sabotage is just the latest in a string of post-Governator flops from Schwarzenegger. Its debut total of $5.3 million is one of the worst ever bows for a film opening in more than 2,500 theaters.
Meanwhile Legendary Pictures’ 300: Rise of an Empire earned $4.3 million and drove its domestic total to $101.1 million. The film has done even better overseas where it has earned $213.1 million for a worldwide total of $314.2 million.
After eight weeks The LEGO Movie fell out of the top ten, but it still earned $3.1 million and drove its 2014-leading domestic total to $248.3 million.
Check back next week to see how Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the first big comic book movie release of 2014, fares at the box office.