Easily remaining at #1, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice had its mixed reception catch up with it this weekend. The superhero smash was down 68% to $52.4 million, for a still very strong $261.5 million gross in 10 days. Even for typical superhero fare, this drop is very steep (superhero films usually fall 55-62%). But apparently, despite strong remarks from many fans and robust repeat advanced ticket sales on Fandango, the critical reception apparently scared more people off this weekend. Also what is surprising is that there was no competition from any major studio this weekend, which should have contributed to a lighter drop (though the end of Spring Break for many might have been a shot in the arm also). Overseas, Dawn of Justice also lost significant steam, with a 66% plunge from last week to $85 million (including a 79% drop in China). Its' still at a huge $681 million worldwide in just 10 days, but if it continues to drop at a fast rate, $1 billion may now be out of the picture. The film doesn't need to hit $1 billion to turn a profit for Warner Bros., however. (many sites reported $800 million was required to break even).It appears that audiences are more loving Disney's latest animated smash, Zootopia. The animated metropolis was off just 17% in its fifth weekend to $20 million, for a huge $275.9 million gross in one month of release. Disney Animation's flick continues to do massive business overseas also, with the worldwide gross approaching $800 million with Japan yet to open. This will likely hit $1 billion worldwide, giving Disney Animation two $1+ billion grossers in the last 3 years. It looks like Pixar may no longer be the animation leader from a commercial perspective.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 had a decent hold in its second weekend, off 38% to $11.1 million, for a decent $36.5 million gross in 10 days. The PG-13 comedy will have an R-rated competitor in the form of fellow Universal film The Boss next week, but it should continue to hold decently as it plays to older adults.
Meanwhile, in fourth place was the sequel God's Not Dead 2, which earned $8.1 million, for a $3,350 per-venue average. That's a little bit less than the first God's Not Dead, which earned $9.3 million from a third of the theaters (780 vs. 2,419). Expectations were for this film to exceed $10 million on opening weekend. And despite some very strong buzz and awareness heading into release, God's Not Dead 2 was probably held back a little bit from the fact that the Christian and faith-based audience have had a lot of options over the last few months, and the sequel opened at the tail-end of all of that. Miracles from Heaven is playing strong while Risen also has had a fairly decent run. The first God's Not Dead did release a month after Son of God and a week before Noah, but the latter was not labeled by many as a "Christian" film. However, Pure Flix only spent about $2 million making this film, so the overall result is still very successful. Despite negative reviews (14% on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave the film a strong "A" CinemaScore. With no additional competition coming as far as faith-based films are concerned, this may be able to have some of the same legs as the original.Despite God's Not Dead 2's opening in theaters, Miracles from Heaven was relatively unharmed by this. Sony's faith-based entry was off just 22% from Easter weekend to $7.6 million, for a great $46.8 million gross in 19 days. At its current pace, Miracles is likely to wind up near $70 million, in line with recent faith-based hits such as War Room ($68 million) and the first God's Not Dead ($62 million).
The Divergent Series: Allegiant also held better than last weekend, off 39% to $5.7 million, for a still very disappointing $56.4 million pick-up in 17 days. Allegiant will also wind up around $70 million, which is down 47% from Insurgent's final gross ($130 million). 10 Cloverfield Lane surprisingly held on strong, off just 20% to $4.8 million, for a very solid $63.6 million pick-up in 24 days. The critically-acclaimed sci-fi thriller is expected to wrap up around $75 million, very close to where Cloverfield ($80 million) finished.
Opening in just over 1,000 locations, indie release Meet the Blacks had a respectable $4.1 million start ($4,026 per-venue average), opening virtually in line with The Perfect Match from a few weeks back. The Mike Epps comedy was basically under the radar and was able to connect with its target audience. It will probably fade from theaters quickly.
Expanding to a little over 1,000 locations, one of the last films for veteran actor Alan Rickman, Eye in the Sky earned a solid $4.06 million, for a $3,941 per-venue average. With strong reviews (93% on Rotten Tomatoes), the wartime thriller should continue to play well in the coming weeks.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its eighth weekend was the superhero smash Deadpool, which was off just 29% to $3.5 million. The Merc with a Mouth is at a sensational $355.1 million since its debut 56 days ago and will end up just a few million behind The Passion of the Christ for the biggest R-rated movie ever in the U.S. Deadpool also will be happy to know that he may wind up finishing ahead of Batman v. Superman domestically. (the Fox smash is at $755 million worldwide also)
And that's about it. Next weekend Melissa McCarthy returns for the comedy The Boss, which is tracking for a debut in the high-teens millions. Unless the superhero mash-up falls hard again, it will likely be another weekend on top for Batman v. Superman. Stay tuned.
