Darren Aronofsky's controversial biblical epic Noah opens to a stellar $44 million in North America, while Summit Entertainment’s Divergent comes in second place at the box office, followed by Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted.
Darren Aronofsky's controversial biblical epic Noah opened to a stellar $44 million in North America, topping the box office and winning over faith-based and mainstream moviegoers alike despite the director's darker take on the story of Noah and his Ark. Starring Russell Crowe, Noah reportedly cost Paramount upwards of $125 million to produce. Overseas, the film also did well, earning $33.6 million from 21 markets, pushing the film's early international earnings to $51 million for a worldwide total of $95.1 million.
Overseas, Noah made $33.6 million, opening to $17.2 million in Russia and taking first place in Australia with $4.3 million. The feature has now earned $51.1 million internationally, and is expanding in to the U.K., Germany, Brazil and Spain next weekend.
In its second weekend, Summit Entertainment’s Divergent came in second place, bringing in $26.5 million for parent company Lionsgate for a domestic total of $95.3 million. The dystopian sci-fi adventure, starring Shailene Woodley, is directed by Neil Burger and based on the best-selling book series by Veronica Roth about a young woman who poses a threat to society after failing to fit into one of five strictly controlled factions. The film, which cost $85 million to make, doesn't begin rolling out overseas in earnest until April 4.
Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted came in third place for its sophomore weekend with $11.4 million, bringing the sequel’s domestic total to $33.2 million. Directed by James Bobin with a $54 million budget, Muppets Most Wanted features Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and Tina Fey as the live-action leads.
DreamWorks Animation's Mr. Peabody & Sherman, now in its fourth week at the box office, made $9.5 million for a total of $94.9 million and a fourth place finish. The CG animated feature is reportedly on track to pass the $100 million mark next weekend. Overseas the film took in $17.8 million for an international total of $123.1 million.
Faith-based movie God's Not Dead, from Pure Flix, came in fifth place with $9.1 million for a total of $22 million.
Coming in sixth place, Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel grossed $8.8 million, the highest weekend ever for the director. Budapest, which will continue to expand this coming weekend, has already taken in $24.4 million to date.
In seventh place, Open Road’s Sabotage tanked with a $5.3 million opening, the worst debut for an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie since Red Sonja in 1985.
DreamWorks Pictures and Disney's Aaron Paul racing movie Need for Speed came in eighth place over its third week out, bringing in $4.3 million for a total of $37.8 million. Overseas the film has made over $130 million, with four major territories still on the way.
Now in its fourth week at the box office, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ sequel 300: Rise of an Empire jumped the $100 million mark domestically, earning $4.3 million for a ninth place finish and a total of $101.1 million.
Rounding out the list at number 10, Universal’s Liam Neeson thriller Non-Stop, now in its fifth week at the box office, made $4.1 million for a total of $85.2 million.
A week ahead of its U.S. debut, Captain America: The Winter Soldier opened to $75.2 million from 32 international markets, 57 percent of the international marketplace. Top markets were South Korea ($10.9 million), the U.K. ($10.7 million), Mexico ($8.7 million), France ($6.4 million), Italy ($3.9 million) and Germany ($3.8 million). The Winter Soldier expands in to the U.S., Russia, Australia and China next weekend.
Fox’s Rio 2 opened to $7.3 million in Brazil, the highest start ever for an animated movie there. The Blue Sky Animation sequel has grossed $29.7 million overseas, and reaches the U.S. on April 11th.
Disney’s Frozen added $7.5 million in Japan, which brings its total to $50 million through three weeks. Over the weekend, Frozen passed Toy Story 3 to become the highest-grossing animated movie ever; it now ranks 10th all-time with $1.07 billion worldwide.
Box office numbers were obtained on boxofficemojo.com.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
