"Captain America" Remains Strong during Easter Weekend

[JamesG]

Weekend Report: Captain Three-peats, Heaven Rises Over Easter Weekend
by Ray Subers
April 20, 2014


Among new releases, faith-based drama Heaven is for Real destroyed Johnny Depp's Transcendence this weekend. Still, it couldn't match Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which held on to first place for the third weekend in a row.

The Marvel sequel added $26.6 million this weekend, which represents a light 36 percent decline. It reached $200 million on Sunday, and should pass Thor: The Dark World in the next few days.








Rio 2 repeated in second place with $22.5 million. Its 43 percent drop was much steeper than the first Rio's 33 percent dip on the exact same weekend in 2011.

Through 10 days, the animated sequel has grossed $75.4 million.







Playing at 2,417 locations, Heaven is for Real earned an excellent $21.5 million this weekend. Add in its Wednesday and Thursday grosses, and the faith-based true story has already grossed $28.5 million.

Along with Son of God and God's Not Dead, this is the third faith-based hit in 2014 so far (you could include Noah as well, but that doesn't easily fit in to this paradigm). The success of these movies is a reminder that Christians represent a huge portion of the population in the U.S.: according to a Pew Research survey, around 37 percent of Americans attend a weekly religious service.



Sony targeted their marketing towards Christian audiences, and placed an emphasis on calling ahead for group ticket sales. It doesn't hurt that the book upon which the movie is based is quite popular, and has a story that is both inspirational and faith-affirming.

The Heaven is for Real audience was 62 percent female and 51 percent over the age of 35. They awarded it an "A" CinemaScore, which suggests word-of-mouth will be strong. Ultimately, it should wind up higher than Son of God ($60 million).







In fourth place, Transcendence bombed with $11.15 million. That's a fraction of recent Depp movies like Dark Shadows ($29.7 million) and The Lone Ranger ($29.2 million).

It's also below legendary sci-fi bombs like Stealth ($13.3 million), The Island ($12.4 million) and In Time ($12.1 million).



While it's abundantly clear that Depp's star power has faded in recent years, the failure of Transcendence can't be hung exclusively on his shoulders. Marketing presented some interesting ideas about the future of technology, but was sorely lacking in the story department.

It also strangely highlighted director Wally Pfister—a name few would recognize—while leaving executive producer Christopher Nolan out. The nail in the coffin came in the form of particularly nasty reviews (20 percent on Rotten Tomatoes).



The movie's audience was 56 percent male and 56 percent over the age of 25. They didn't like it much more than critics, and it wound up with a "C+" CinemaScore.

Considering the toxic environment surrounding this movie right now, it would be surprising if it got past $30 million.








A Haunted House 2 took fifth place with an estimated $9.1 million. That's around half of the first movie's $18.1 million debut.

The original Haunted House was the first horror spoof in many years, and was able to take the first digs at the Paranormal Activity franchise. In comparison, A Haunted House 2 is the third horror spoof in the past 15 months, and didn't seem like it covered any new ground.

The audience awarded the movie a "B-" CinemaScore, and a steep drop from here is likely.








Bears opened outside the Top 10 with an estimated $4.8 million. That's the worst start yet for a Disneynature movie.

It should get a slight boost on Earth Day (Tuesday the 22nd), but overall this is a miss.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3825&p=.htm









April 18-20, 2014 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier $26,612,000 / $201,526,000
2. Rio 2 $22,500,000 / $75,363,000
3. Heaven is for Real $28,500,000
4. Transcendence $11,150,000
5. A Haunted House 2 $9,100,000
6. Draft Day $5,900,000 / $19,548,000
7. Divergent $5,750,000 / $133,915,000
8. Oculus $5,202,000 / $21,191,000
9. Noah $5,000,000 / $93,274,000
10. God's Not Dead $4,801,000 / $48,327,000

[comedyfreak]

Cap will continue to do well until May 2nd

[irehtman]

I want it on DVD ASAP!

[MacLeaper]

Yay for Captain America! "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" was great! Can't wait to see the rest of the superhero movies coming this year- "X-Men: Days of Future Past" particularly, but also "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" and "Guardians of the Galaxy".

[UMFaninMD]

I haven't heard anyone say anything good about Transcendence. I wonder if a lot of people are just burnt out on technology.