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Posted May 19, 2014 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Box Office Weekend: Godzilla Stomps Competition with $93 Million


Yes, Godzilla has returned to theaters, and is making waves with critics and audiences alike, as the big fire-breathing lizard took in an estimated $93.2 million at the box office. While not enough to cover its $160 million budget, it still had a better opening all around than The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (which landed in third this week with an estimated $16.8 million). Still, it falls behind in net profit to Neighbors, which, at an estimated $26 million weekend take, has made back over five times its costs, making the R-rated comedy a raging success.

GodzillaMillion Dollar Arm debuted in fourth place, and it is an inauspicious debut at that. With an estimated $10.5 million in ticket sales and mixed reviews, the Jon Hamm led sports film is not likely to do great business, but may still have a chance to make back its $25 million investment. And while it may top The Other Woman (estimated $6.3 million) and Heaven is for Real (estimated $4.4 million) this weekend, both films have done very well at the box office, pleasing audiences if not critics.

The bottom four is a mixed bag, home to two monster successes and two failures. Of the winners, Rio 2 (estimated $3.8 million) just barely topped out over Captain America: The Winter Soldier (estimated $3.8 million), but only in weekly gross; at $250.6 million, the Marvel sequel remains the highest total earner in the top ten. On the other hand, Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return picked up an unenviable estimated $2 million, and appears to have bombed quite badly (even with unreported budget numbers). Mom’s Night Out, with an estimated $1.8 million, may not have been a financial bomb, but is as close as it could get, just barely squeaking out a net profit over its $5 million in costs.

Weekend Box Office (May 16th – May 18th)

  1. Godzilla…$93.2 million
  2. Neighbors…$26 million
  3. The Amazing Spider-Man 2…$16.8 million
  4. Million Dollar Arm…$10.5 million
  5. The Other Woman…$6.3 million
  6. Heaven is for Real…$4.4 million
  7. Rio 2…$3.8 million
  8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier…$3.8 million
  9. Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return…$2 million
  10. Mom’s Night Out…$1.8 million
Seth Paul

Seth Paul

When not failing to write novels and screenplays, box-office guru Seth writes humorous comedy tracks for films under the name "The One Man Band" that can be found at Rifftrax.com. Although, he has recently succeeded in writing the novella "Jack Alan and the Case of the Not-Exactly Rocket Scientists," available as an eBook on Amazon. He is also the English voice of Zak in "Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space."