1. The Divergent Series: Insurgent- $54M
Last year's Divergent was hardly a world-beater as franchise starters go. It opened with $54.6M before finishing its run with $288M worldwide. Not bad, but the bigger problem is that nobody really liked the film all that much. Reviews were middling at best, which didn't bode well for the sequel, Insurgent. But Lionsgate stood "dauntless"and it appears to have paid off as Insurgent nearly matched Divergent with a $54M domestic debut and $101M total worldwide. There are some concerns, though. The film cost more than $110M to produce, which is $25M more than the previous film. Most sequels tend to grow their audiences and there's probably some concern that this one didn't. At the same time, it goes to show a certain level of loyalty to the series that should remain through the the two-part finale, Allegiant. Reviews for this one have been pretty split (I think it's an improvement) so don't be surprised if the final tally mirrors Divergent's.
2. Cinderella- $34.4M/$122M
Although it dropped 49% from last week, Disney's Cinderella is still the belle of the ball with $34M. Overall the live-action fairy tale has earned $253M worldwide in two weeks. That buys a lot of glass slippers.
3. Run All Night- $5.1M/$19.7M
4. The Gunman- $5M
Audiences aren't stupid, and certainly they weren't stupid enough to fall for Sean Penn's lazy attempt to rejuvenate his career Liam Neeson-style. The Gunman, which was directed by Taken's Pierre Morel by the way, opened with a dismal $5M. That's despite some serious star wattage with Penn, Javier Bardem, and Idris Elba part of the cast. Reviews have been unforgiving, (I found it rather loathsome) but maybe it will perform better overseas when it eventually rolls out.
5. Kingsman: The Secret Service- $4.6M/$114.5M
6. Do You Believe?- $4M
Not even faith-based audiences believed enough in Do You Believe? to purchase a ticket. After last year saw numerous Christian-themed films really cash in at the box office around this same time on the calendar, this $4M opening is pretty weak and may signal a turning of the page on these kinds of films. Let's not forget how poorly Moms' Night Out, which coincidentally also starred Sean Astin, performed last summer.
7. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel- $3.4M/$24.1M
8. Focus- $3.3M/$49.4M
9. Chappie- $2.6M/$28.3M
10. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water- $2.3M/$158.7M
