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May 3, 2014
 

FRIDAY MAY 2 Box Office Report

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #18 of 2014 looks like $144 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down 25% from the norm for this weekend.  

Opening at 4,324 theaters, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 from Sony grossed $35.5 million late Thursday through Friday, putting the film on track for a $92.3 million opening weekend (somewhat above our $85.5 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is pacing toward a solid three-day average of $21,300 per theater for the weekend (above the $5,333 opening weekend average for all wide-release films the last two years). Critical sentiment is mediocre (54% positive overall and only 37% positive with top critics). The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is headed for $251 million total domestic, slightly behind the $262.0 million domestic total for The Amazing Spider Man (released July 3, 2012).

The Other Woman is the top holdover,as expected, and its forecast domestic total has been increased to $82 million.   Heaven Is for Real is now on track for $89 million, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier is pacing toward $257 million, slightly ahead of Amazing Spider-Man 2.  

Weekend 18: May 2-4, 2014 ($ millions)
Pre-Wknd Showbuzz Forecast Early Weekend Estimate Actual Friday Gross Showbuzz Domestic Final Proj.
Amazing Spider-Man 2 Sony [85.5] 92.3 35.5 251
The Other Woman Fox [13.3] 14.6 4.9 82
Heaven Is For Real Sony [9.0] 8.5 2.4 89
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Dis [8.3] 7.6 2.1 257
Rio 2 Fox [7.5] 7.3 1.7 124
Brick Mansions Rel [3.7] 3.3 1.1 19
Divergent LG/Sum [2.0] 2.1 .62 150
The Quiet Ones LG/Sum [—] 2.0 .67 7
Grand Budapest Hotel FoxS [—] 1.8 .48 58
God’s Not Dead Free [—] 1.7 .51 62
Bears Dis [2.2] 1.4 .45 23
Draft Day LG/Sum [1.5] 1.4 .41 30
Transcendence WB [1.7] 1.1 .34 21

Note: The table above summarizes an early look at the weekend. The first column is a reminder of each film’s ShowBuzzDaily Forecast for the weekend (in brackets). The second column, on which the films are sorted, displays the new weekend projection for each film, based on the Friday numbers (the third column). The final column is a preliminary estimate of the ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Total number for the film’s total run in North America. A “++” indicates the Domestic number has been upgraded; a “–” indicates a downgrade.

 

Total Box Office Volume

The Top 12 Films this weekend are looking like $144 million total Friday-Sunday, down 25% from the four-year average for the comparable weekend and down 32% from the really weak total the same weekend last year.

WEEKEND 18 ($ millions)
Weekend Volume: Top 12 Films Top Movies Opening Each Weekend (Fri-Sun only)
2014 $144 Amazing Spider-Man 2 $92.3
2013 $211 Iron Man 3 $174.1, Mud $2.2
2012 $250 Marvel’s The Avengers $207.4
2011 $155 Thor $65.7, Jumping the Broom $15.2, Something Borrowed $13.9
2010 $171 Iron Man 2 $128.1, Babies $2.2
Avg 2010-13 $192

Check back tomorrow for more complete Weekend Studio Estimates based on Saturday’s actual box office, as well as the International Box Office report.



About the Author

Mitch Metcalf
MITCH METCALF has been tracking every US film release of over 500 screens (over 2300 movies and counting) since the storied weekend of May 20, 1994, when Maverick and Beverly Hills Cop 3 inspired countless aficionados to devote their lives to the art of cinema. Prior to that, he studied Politics and Economics at Princeton in order to prepare for his dream of working in television. He has been Head of West Coast Research at ABC, then moved to NBC in 2000 and became Head of Scheduling for 11 years.