Weekend Box Office Report: April 11-13 2014

By Kip Mooney • On • In News News 0

BOX OFFICE REPORT April 11-13, 2014(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 51. Captain America II ($41.3 million)2. Rio 2 ($39.0 million)3. Oculus ($12.0 million)4. Draft Day ($9.75 million)5. Divergent ($7.5 million)

Once more, Captain America defended the country against evil shadow forces and the box office against all competitors. The Winter Soldier held the No. 1 spot again, narrowly beating out the animated birds of Rio 2. The Marvel sequel should surpass the original ($176.6 million) by next week.

The birds only made a few thousand less in their second outing than the first go-round. But that was still well above the competition. Oculus, the low-budget horror movie starring former Doctor Who companion Ksren Gillan, already more than doubled its budget, taking in around $12 million.

That's even more sad news for the Cleveland Browns, who can't even beat a tiny horror flick with a cast unknown to most of the movie-going public. Oculus beat out Draft Day, about the fictional beleaguered GM of the football franchise that's had more staph infection lawsuits since 1999 than playoff wins. Kevin Costner's failed comeback attempt No. 3 (following Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and 3 Days to Kill) only made a weak $9.75 million in its first weekend. That's got to hit worse than getting sacked by a defensive tackle.

Outside the top 5: - This Weekend's Indie Champ: Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive, a vampire hang-out movie, starring possible vampires Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddelston. The stylish flick averaged $24,250 on each of its four screens.

- Joe, Nicolas Cage's come-back effort, couldn't even beat a documentary in its third week (Finding Vivian Meier) that was playing on less than half the screens.

- The Raid 2 punched its way to No. 11 this week, playing on nearly 1,000 screens and taking in more than $1 million. 

Next week: Captain America might make it three weeks on top, but it's got serious competition from Transcendence, the techno-thriller from Wally Pfister, the Oscar-winning cinematographer for most of Christopher Nolan's movies. I think it narrowly edges out Cap with $25 million. But keep an eye out for Heaven is for Real, the latest faith-based movie to earn serious bucks. This one has the advantage of having a competent cast (Greg Kinnear, Margo Martindale) and director (Randall Wallace, We Were Soldiers). It could easily make $18 million, which will hopefully be more than horror spoof A Haunted House 2. The less said about that the better.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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