Weekend Wrap-Up: The Other Woman the Only Other Winner in April

April 29, 2014

April ended with a new film on top, The Other Woman, which finally broke Captain America: The Winter Soldier's hold on the box office chart. It was a surprisingly strong hit earning $24.76 million, but the other new releases were not as strong. Brick Mansions only managed fifth place, while The Quiet Ones missed the Mendoza Line. The overall box office was $115 million, which was 13% lower than last weekend. More importantly, this is 25% more than the same weekend last year. 2014 added to its lead over 2013, which now stands at $257 million, or 9.2%. Its running tally is $3.05 billion and summer is just about to start.

The Other Woman opened in first place with $24.76 million, which is way above most analysts predictions. Additionally, it is aimed at women and for the most part, female-centric films do have better legs. This is partially because women are less likely to run out and see a movie on opening weekend. It is also because there are fewer films aimed at women, so they don't have as many choices in later weeks. This is certainly the case here, as aside from Mom's Night Out, there's not a lot aimed at women for the next month. On the downside, its reviews are just bad. Its audience reaction is better at 70% positive, but that's still lower than a lot of wide releases earn. Its legs likely won't be as bad as its reviews and it should clear $60 million with ease and if it can get to $70 million, it will be a solid midlevel hit.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was finally knocked out of first place, but still finished with $16.22 million over the weekend for a total of $225.06 million after four weeks of release. There is direct competition this weekend, which could really hammer it at the box office. If this happens, it will likely finish its run just short of $250 million. If The Amazing Spider-Man 2 fails to live up to expectations, The Winter Solider will reach $250 million and could remain in second place on the yearly chart till some time in June.

Heaven is for Real was next with $14.35 million over the weekend for a total of $52.46 million after 12 days of release. The film wasn't hurt by its reviews and at this pace, it will be in the black, perhaps as early as this time next week.

Rio 2 added $13.88 million to its running tally, which now sits at $96.39 million. The film is less than a week away from the century mark and while it was an expensive movie to make, this is enough to keep the studio happy.

As expected, Brick Mansions earned fifth place. In fact, it finished on the high end of expectations with just $9.52 million during its opening weekend. It wasn't a really expensive movie to make, but it will still likely finish with less than its $28 million production budget. It will need impressive international numbers to break even, but it is too soon to tell if that will happen.

The only other wide release of the week was The Quiet Ones, which opened in seventh place with $3.88 million in 2,027 screens giving it a per theater average of $1,914, just below the Mendoza Line. Theater owners will be looking to drop it as soon as possible, so its legs will be short no matter what its reviews are. Its weak reviews just ensure that will happen faster.

Looking in at the sophomore class, Transcendence did the best landing in sixth place with $4.23 million over the weekend for a total of $18.59 million after two weeks of release. This represents a 61% drop-off, while its per theater average dropped to just $1,223, so theater owners will be looking to drop it A.S.A.P. Bears had the best hold down a mere 22% to $3.73 million over the past three days for a ten-day total of $11.28 million. Had the film matched expectations during its opening weekend and held on this well, the studio would have been ecstatic. As it is, this is simply too little, too late. Finally we find A Haunted House 2 in tenth place with $3.20 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $14.18 million. It fell 64% during its sophomore stint, which will likely result in a slash to its theater count this weekend.

One final note, Frozen became the 18th film to reach the $400 million mark over the weekend hitting the milestone on the 155th day of release. That is the slowest any film has reached that milestone, not counting films that got there during a re-release.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Frozen, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Bears, Rio 2, Transcendence, The Quiet Ones, Heaven is for Real, The Other Woman, A Haunted House 2, Brick Mansions