On first glance, the $56M debut of Divergent may seem underwhelming, until you consider that it's more than the opening weekends of the last four YA adaptations outside of The Hunger Games movies. For comparison's sake, the film doesn't come close to matching The Hunger Games' $152M debut, but that was never going to be the case. Shailene Woodley, as great an actress as she is, doesn't enter in on quite the same upswing as Jennifer Lawrence, and these adaptations now come with a certain stigma that wasn't present before. Now it's going to be about managing expectations for the future. The sequel, Insurgent, has already been green lit with a brand new director, which should please the audiences that gave Divergent an 'A' Cinemascore.
2. Muppets Most Wanted- $16.5M
Muppets Most Wanted begins with catchy musical number openly proclaiming the sequel won't be as good as the original, and it turns out it won't make as much money, either. The film opened to only $16.5M, disappointing but not totally unexpected. 2011's The Muppets rode in on a wave of nostalgia and genuine excitement for the return of Jim Henson's popular creations, but the sequel has always felt a little desperate and unnecessary. The soft opening weekend probably wasn't helped by the continued strong performances by Mr. Peabody & Sherman and The LEGO Movie. This may be the last we see of Kermit and the gang on the big screen. Maybe a new weekly TV series would work?
3. Mr. Peabody & Sherman- $11.7M/$81M
4. 300: Rise of an Empire- $8.6M/$93.7M
5. God's Not Dead- $8.5M
Christian-themed dramas continue to do big business in the specialty market, with the mostly unheard of God's Not Dead opening to $8.5M in 780 screens. It's only in movies like this that guys like Dean Cain and Kevin Sorbo can be box office giants. Anyway, this looks to be doing roughly the same business as prior religious hits like Fireproof and Courageous. Maybe this bodes well for Darren Aronofsky's Noah, which opens next week? Eh, probably not. Different audiences, I think.
6. Need for Speed- $7.7M/$30.4M
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel- $6.7M/$12.9M
8. Non-Stop- $6.3M/$78.6M
9. The LEGO Movie- $4.1M/$243.3M
10. Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club- $3.1M/$12.9M
