Godzilla Climbs to Box Office Top
Warner Bros. Pictures’ Godzilla was off to a huge start last weekend (May 16-18) with a first place debut of $93.19 million. The highly anticipated and well received sci-fi action remake outpaced expectations, which ranged from $65-$80 million, in a very big way. Godzilla delivered the second largest opening weekend of 2014 to date, as it debuted just below the $95.02 million start of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and just ahead of the $91.61 million start of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. In addition to a very effective marketing campaign and strong reviews, Godzilla was also likely aided from the performance of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 having left a lot to be desired.
Universal Pictures’ Neighbors placed second with $25.07 million. The comedy starring Seth Rogen, Zac Efron and Rose Byrne was down a significant, but understandable 49 percent from its previous weekend’s stronger than expected start. The rush-out of Efron fans and Rogen fans its debut weekend and the larger than expected debut of Godzilla both affected Neighbors. In the bigger picture, Neighbors continues to impress, especially with both cost and expectations in mind. Neighbors has grossed $90.59 million through 10 days of release. That leaves the film just $9.41 million away from reaching the $100 million domestic milestone. Neighbors will soon face direct competition from the release of fellow comedies Blended this coming Friday and A Million Ways to Die in the West on May 30.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 claimed third place last weekend with $16.80 million. Sony Pictures’ expensive superhero sequel was down a sharp 53 percent from the previous weekend, as continued underwhelming word of mouth and the stronger than expected launch of Godzilla both took a toll. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has grossed $172.17 million in 17 days as it continues to perform on the very low end of pre-release expectations. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is likely to take another significant hit next weekend with 20th Century Fox’s highly anticipated superhero film X-Men: Days of Future Past entering theaters on Friday.
Disney Entertainment’s Million Dollar Arm debuted in fourth place with $10.52 million. Despite growing buzz leading up to its release, the baseball drama starring Jon Hamm debuted on the very low end of expectations. Potential for Million Dollar Arm appears to have been limited by opening against Godzilla and from the film’s critical reviews being mixed.
20th Century Fox’s The Other Woman rounded out the weekend’s top five with $6.31 million. The comedy starring Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton was down 34 percent. That represented a strong weekend hold, especially since the previous weekend’s performance was inflated a bit my Mother’s Day. The Other Woman continues to outpace expectations with a 24-day take of $71.67 million.
This Week | Last Week | Movie | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Weeks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | N/A | Godzilla | $93.19M | $93.19M | 1 |
2 | 1 | Neighbors | $25.07M | $90.59M | 2 |
3 | 2 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | $16.80M | $172.17M | 3 |
4 | N/A | Million Dollar Arm | $10.52M | $10.52M | 1 |
5 | 3 | The Other Woman | $6.31M | $71.67M | 4 |
6 | 4 | Heaven Is for Real | $4.38M | $82.23M | 4 |
7 | 5 | Rio 2 | $3.74M | $117.99M | 5 |
8 | 6 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | $3.66M | $250.53M | 7 |
9 | 8 | Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return | $1.96M | $6.56M | 2 |
10 | 7 | Mom’s Night Out | $1.77M | $7.20M | 2 |
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.