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Box Office Weekend: Divergent Conforms to Other YA Adaptations and Wins Big Opening Weekend

Seth Paul
Box Office Weekend

Divergent may not be impressing critics anytime soon, but the action-packed beginning to yet another young adult-themed trilogy got a good head start on its $85 million costs with an estimated $56 million at the box office, far and away the big winner. In a surprisingly distant second place, Muppets Most Wanted ended up much more favorable with critics, but not audiences, earning only an estimated $16.5 million. Its debut take was comparable to the third week gross of Mr. Peabody & Sherman, which picked up an estimated $11.7 million. While none of the top three are domestic winners, Mr. Peabody & Sherman at least has made money counting worldwide take, while the others still have a ways to go…although still with a chance to do so.

300: Rise of an Empire tops the best of the rest as the grosses drop to single digits, earning an estimated $8.7 million (though the $110 million epic has been a winner worldwide). Just behind is the debut of the Christian God’s Not Dead, which did decent small release numbers with an estimated $8.6 million in only 780 theaters, as does The Grand Budapest Hotel, which opened to wider release (still a small 304 theaters) to seventh place and an estimated $6.8 million. Need for Speed, on the other hand, has fallen short on the domestic side, its second weekend estimate of $7.8 million leaving it less than half of making back its $66 million costs, but worldwide has fallen in more with the likes of 300: Rise of an Empire, making a grand total of $126.5 million.

Finally, Non-Stop continues to plummet with a drop to eighth and an estimated $6.3 million, but the Liam Neeson action flick pulled in enough to be profitable, while there is no denying The Lego Movie’s lasting appeal; at seven weeks, it remains a titan at the box office, not only in weeks of release, but its estimated $4.1 million puts it as the current highest earner in the top ten with a domestic haul of $243.4 million. Meanwhile, Tyler Perry’s The Single Moms Club trail not only in earnings (estimated $3.1 million), but in critical acclaim and Tyler Perry fandom as well; only Tyler Perry Presents Peeples has fared poorer.

Weekend Box Office (March 21st – March 23rd)
  1. Divergent…$56 million
  2. Muppets Most Wanted…$16.5 million
  3. Mr. Peabody & Sherman…$11.7 million
  4. 300: Rise of an Empire…$8.7 million
  5. God’s Not Dead…$8.6 million
  6. Need for Speed…$7.8 million
  7. The Grand Budapest Hotel…$6.8 million
  8. Non-Stop…$6.3 million
  9. The Lego Movie…$4.1 million
  10. Tyler Perry’s The Single Moms Club…$3.1 million

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."
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