Kids and families flocked to The LEGO Movie and the Captain America sequel while teenagers embraced Divergent and adults checked into The Grand Budapest Hotel last weekend.
All told it was a buoyant frame as nationwide takings improved by 6% to $18.25 million and six titles each earned more than $1 million.
Animated comedy The LEGO Movie eased by 10% to $5.1 million in its second weekend, propelling its haul to $14.4 million, according to Rentrak’s estimates. The Village Roadshow Pictures/Warner Bros. co-production looks set to reach $28 million, if not $30 million, and the worldwide cume hit $US425 million.
Superhero adventure Captain America: The Winter Soldier grabbed $3.6 million despite falling by 40%, to elevate its 11-day total to $12.2 million. However the Marvel franchise isn’t tracking as strongly here as in the US, where the film starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel J. Jackson has rung up $US159 million in 10 days.
Divergent, an action-adventure based on Veronica Roth’s novels, launched with a hearty $3.16 million, and nearly $3.3 million with previews, clearly connecting with fans of futuristic sci-fi fare in the vein of The Hunger Games.
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson’s idiosyncratic comedy set in an imaginary Eastern European republic, starring Ralph Fiennes, Edward Norton and Tony Revolori, nabbed a handsome $1.8 million on just 108 screens, and just shy of $2 million with previews.
After a mediocre debut, DreamWorks Animations’ Mr Peabody & Sherman got a boost from the school vacation, jumping by 36% to $1.45 million in its third outing, which brings the total to $7.7 million.
Darren Aronofsky’s Noah fell by 44% to $1.25 million in its third weekend, collecting an impressive $10.3 million thus far. The Biblical epic starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson and Anthony Hopkins is no blockbuster in the US, where it’s taken $85 million and may not get to $100 million. But Paramount has a shot at recouping from the rest of the world where the film has amassed $162 million and could finish with as much as $260 million.
An under-performer in the US, Muppets Most Wanted had a medium-level debut in Oz, fetching $820,000, and $1.06 million with sneaks.
In the art-house sector, Any Day Now, the chronicle of a gay couple’s struggles to adopt a child in the 1970s, misfired despite positive reviews, with $6,500 at six screens.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE April 10-13
|
|
Title |
Week/ Screens |
Box Office |
% +- |
Total
|
|
1 |
The LEGO Movie |
2/516 |
$5,176,972 |
-10 |
$14,452,168 |
|
2 |
Captain America 2 |
2/571 |
3,645,372 |
-40 |
12,194,578 |
|
3 |
Divergent |
1/233 |
3,159,775 |
NA |
3,291,600 |
|
4 |
The Grand Budapest Hotel |
1/108 |
1,813,992 |
NA |
1,965,745 |
|
5 |
Mr Peabody & Sherman |
3/389 |
1,457,565 |
+36 |
7,765,830 |
|
6 |
Noah |
3/387 |
1, 250,245 |
-44 |
10,300,632 |
|
7 |
Muppets Most Wanted |
1/267 |
820,404 |
NA |
1,064,863 |
|
8 |
The Monuments Men |
5/141 |
232,253 |
-61 |
8,396,544 |
|
9 |
Ride Along |
4/53 |
95,569 |
-65 |
2,453,475 |
|
10 |
Disco Singh |
1/20 |
85,805 |
NA |
85,805 |
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia