Weekend Wrap-Up: Winter Solider Continues Solid Spring
April 14, 2014
As expected, Captain America: The Winter Soldier took the top spot on the weekend box office chart, but it was a little closer than expected, as the film's sophomore stint was on the low side of predictions. Rio 2 did very well opening with a nearly identical result as its predecessor. Oculus opened well, for a film that cost $5 million to make. It likely won't have good legs, because films of that genre rarely do, but it should break even regardless. Only Draft Day was disappointing. Overall, the box office was able to pull in $140 million over the weekend. This was down 16% from last weekend, but this is still 20% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2014 has now pulled in $2.73 billion, which is nearly 8% and $200 million more than last year's pace.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier added $41.27 million over the weekend to its running tally, which now sits at $158.88 million. By this time next week, it should be at $200 million, or really close to it. By comparison, the first Captain America took 26 days to get to this point and it finished well before it reached $200 million. More impressively, The Winter Soldier's sophomore decline was lower than the first film's decline, which rarely happens for a sequel. This really shows the strong reviews are paying off. It is very likely the film has already made enough worldwide to break even, and it should stick around in theaters for a while.
Rio 2 was close behind with $39.33 million over the weekend, which is about $100,000 more than Rio opened with. Unfortunately, this film's reviews are weaker than the first film's reviews were and sequels usually have weaker legs as well, so it likely won't make as much as the first film in the end. That said, reached $100 million domestically shold be fine, as the film's box office prospects internationally are really strong.
Oculus earned a distant third place with $12.01 million over the weekend. The film only cost $5 million to make, so it has already covered its production budget. Granted, it's P&A budget likely cost $20 million or so, so it will need quite a bit more to break even on its domestic numbers. Even with strong reviews, its genre will prevent that. If it can match its domestic numbers internationally, then it should break even early in the home market.
Draft Day was the only real disappointment during the weekend earning fourth place with just $9.78 million. Given its older target demographic and its good reviews, it should at least match its $25 million production budget domestically. Unfortunately, given the popularity of American football outside of America, it likely won't do enough internationally to break even any time soon.
Noah rounded out the top five with $7.55 million over the weekend for a total of $84.98 million after three. It is still on pace to reach $100 million, barely. If Easter gives it a little boost next weekend, it will have an easier time getting there. It if loses most of its weekend haul again, its theater count could evaporate before it gets to the century mark.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Noah, Rio 2, Oculus, Draft Day