NEW YORK (AP) — "Captain America" continued to flex its
Marvel muscle at the global box office, as "The Winter Soldier" took in
$41.4 million domestically and $60.6 million overseas.
The strong
second-week performance for the Walt Disney release in North America was
enough to narrowly edge 20th Century Fox’s "Rio 2" in a springtime
battle of sequels. The animated Amazon jungle tale "Rio 2" debuted with
$39 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, almost exactly the
opening weekend total of the 2011 Oscar-nominated original.
But
"Captain America" has grown considerably in stature since its 2011
original, "The First Avenger." With a global cumulative total of nearly
$477 million, "The Winter Soldier" has (in two weeks domestically, three
weeks internationally) easily surpassed the $370 million total of "The
First Avenger."
For a superhero whose costume is draped with the
U.S. flag, Captain America (played by Chris Evans) has proven
particularly popular abroad. The international appeal of such a
traditionally patriot figure was once doubted.
"The traditional
rules just don’t apply anymore. It’s really about that Marvel brand,"
said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker
Rentrak. "’Captain America’ can play in Peoria just as well as Hong
Kong."
"Rio 2," with a voice cast including Anne Hathaway and
Jessie Eisenberg, also played well internationally. In its second week
of release overseas, it made $62.5 million.
Two other new releases opened in a distant third and fourth place.
The low-budget supernatural horror film "Oculus" took in $12 million for Relativity Media.
The
football drama "Draft Day," starring Kevin Costner and directed by Ivan
Reitman, debuted weakly with $9.8 million. Made with the cooperation of
the National Football League, the Lionsgate release is the second movie
this year, along with the thriller "3 Days to Kill," to attempt to
restore the 59-year-old Costner to leading man status.
The overall
box office for the year is up more than 7 percent over 2013’s record
box-office haul. The month of April has been propelled especially by the
summer-style release of "The Winter Soldier" and a number of less
likely successes.
With $39.5 million domestically, the Wes
Anderson caper "The Grand Budapest Hotel" has performed exceptionally in
a gradual release by Fox Searchlight. The independently released
Christian film "God’s Not Dead," from Freestyle Releasing, has made a
whopping $40.7 million in four weeks.
Just holding in the top five
was Lionsgate’s teen sci-fi franchise-starter "Divergent," which added
$7.5 million in its fourth week to bring its cumulative total to $124.9
million. Lionsgate announced Friday that the third installment in the
series (a sequel for 2015 is already in the works) will be split into
two releases. The final book in Veronica Roth’s young-adult trilogy,
"Allegiant," will be made into two installments, one to open in March
2016, the other in March 2017.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday
through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak.
Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final
domestic figures will be released on Monday.
1."Captain America: The Winter Soldier," $41.4 million ($60.6 million international).
2."Rio 2," $39 million ($62.3 million international).
3."Oculus," $12 million ($1.3 million international).
4."Draft Day," $9.8 million.
5."Divergent," $7.5 million ($23.2 million international).
6."Noah," $7.5 million ($36.2 million international).
7."God’s Not Dead," $5.5 million.
8."The Grand Budapest Hotel," $4.1 million ($7.2 million international).
9."Muppets Most Wanted," $2.2 million ($2.2 million international).
10."Mr. Peabody and Sherman," $1.8 million ($3.8 million international).
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Estimated
ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters
(excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by
Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. "Rio 2," $62.3 million.
2. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," $60.6 million.
3. "Noah," $36.2 million.
4. "Divergent," $23.2 million.
5. "The Lego Movie," $9.5 million.
6. "Frozen," $8 million.
7. "The Grand Budapest Hotel," $7.2 million.
8. "Ocho apellidos vascos," $5.4 million.
9. "Mr. Peabody and Sherman," $3.8 million.
10. (tie) "The Legend of Hercules," $3.5 million.
10. (tie) "Broken," $3.5 million.
___
Universal
and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony,
Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony
Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are
owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC;
20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox;
Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by
a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage
Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment
Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity
Media LLC.
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