As what was widely expected, the blockbuster Furious 7 held onto the top spot in its third weekend. However, it didn't hold on very strong, though its 51% decline isn't extremely bad either. The latest installment of the ever-so-popular trilogy added $29.1 million, for a huge $294.4 million pick-up in 17 days. Furious 7 is now the biggest April release ever ahead of the $259 million final gross of last year's Captain America: The Winter Soldier. At this pace, this entry is headed for a finish close to or above $350 million. It will all depend on how it holds next week and how it fares in the face of Avengers: Age of Ultron the week after. Regardless of where it ends up though, Universal is looking to press hard on the gas for production on Furious 8 as soon as possible. Universal celebrated hugely this weekend as over the weekend, Furious 7 broke more overseas records and became the studio's first (in a first-run release) movie to pass $1 billion worldwide. In addition to that, it added another $168 million overseas this weekend, roughly even with last weekend. In China, the movie is the 2nd-biggest ever in that market and will soon end up as the biggest, as it has earned an unexpectedly strong $250 million over there.Overseas alone, Furious 7 has earned a truly jaw-dropping $860 million in just three weeks. Count in the domestic gross, and Furious 7's $1.153 billion gross ranks as the seventh-biggest movie in history already. At this pace, with Avengers 2 set to open overseas in just a few days, a finish anywhere between $1.4 and $1.7 billion worldwide is looking likely. It will either finish as the third-biggest grossing movie ever ahead of The Avengers, or in fourth (though most likely 5th by the time Age of Ultron finishes its worldwide run).
But Furious 7 wasn't making all the headlines. Opening in second place with very solid results was the Kevin James sequel, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. The family flick pulled in $24 million, for a per-venue average of a decent $6,606. For James, this is his biggest debut since the first Paul Blart, which earned $32 million on its opening weekend back in 2009. 2 was never expected to hit that level, and for a family sequel, it fared far better than many other tried-and-true efforts. Chalk that up to little competition for families over the past month (especially boys) and the very strong marketing campaign. On the downside, the Rotten Tomatoes site has yet to list one positive review for the film (its at 0%), while the CinemaScore was a little kinder at "B-". Even if it doesn't show strong holding power from here (the first movie did 4 1/2 times its opening weekend), it will still end up in good shape for Sony. The budget was only $30 million. Dependent on how it holds next weekend, Blart actually stands a decent chance at pulling off an upset for #1 next weekend. Sony was hoping for around $20 million.Opening in third place with also very solid results was the online-themed horror flick Unfriended. The latest from Blumhouse Productions managed $16 million, for a decent $5,850 per-venue average. The R rating probably held it back a little bit, but Unfriended turned in the best opening for a horror flick this year so far, narrowly edging out The Woman in Black 2's $15.8 million debut from January. The budget was just $1 million. Reviews were solid (65% on Rotten Tomatoes), though the CinemaScore was a "C". Look for this to fall out of the list quickly, though regardless of where it ends up (probably between $35 and $40 million), it will still end up a success. Distributor Universal carries 2 of the Top 3 movies this weekend.
DreamWorks Animation's Home took a hit from Paul Blart 2, and fell 44% to $10.3 million. Since its debut four weeks ago, the alien invasion flick has picked up a very solid $142.6 million, or exactly in line with The Croods through the same point (and will fall behind it this week). At its current pace, Home is likely to end up in the $175 million vicinity, which would be exactly the same as last year's How To Train Your Dragon 2. Overseas grosses have only been so-so, but overall, it will still end up safely in the black.
Following an OK debut last weekend, The Longest Ride failed to show any signs of stability, and fell 47% to $6.9 million, for a soft $23.5 million in 10 days. At this rate and with Age of Adaline arriving next week, the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation will probably finish at $35 million. Off 41% to $4.8 million, Get Hard is at a solid $78.3 million in 24 days. The Kevin Hart-Will Ferrell comedy should continue to level off with no R-rated comedy competition coming up.
Meanwhile, opening in seventh place was the latest from Disneynature, Monkey Kingdom. The nature documentary opened to $4.7 million in seventh place, for a mediocre $2,343 per-venue average from 2,012 locations. Monkey Kingdom essentially tied Bears ($4.8 million) for the studio's lowest-grossing opening from their documentary division. It should be noted though that Bears opened over Easter weekend last year, so its' not a direct apples-to-apples comparison. With Earth Day on Wednesday, this should see very good mid-week business thanks to school field trips. Whether or not it holds well from here will all depend on its strong reviews (93% on Rotten Tomatoes) and solid "A-" CinemaScore spreading word-of-mouth.Holding on strong in eighth, Woman in Gold expanded to 500 more locations and fell a light 16% to $4.6 million. The Helen Mirren historical drama has picked up a very solid $15.9 million in 17 days and could finish above $25 million if word-of-mouth continues to be positive. Insurgent continued to level off in ninth place, off 38% to $4.2 million, for a decent $120.6 million pick-up in one month of release, and over $250 million worldwide.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its sixth weekend was Disney's Cinderella remake, which was off 46% to $3.9 million, for a very solid $186.3 million. With Age of Adaline looking to steal some of its audience next week, Cinderella now looks likely to fall just short of the $200 million mark. But, with a budget of just $95 million (half of Disney's other live-action fantasy spectacles), the Mouse House is still in good shape here.
Next weekend, the Spring season ends with The Age of Adaline, faith-based flick Little Boy and the expansion of the critically-acclaimed Ex Machina looking to make a little bit of noise in the calm before the storm that is Avengers: Age of Ultron.
