Weekend box office: Noah surges while Sabotage struggles

Brad Sturdivant March 30th, 2014

Weekend box office Noah

After all the delays and all the controversy, Darren Aronofsky’s NOAH finally opened in theaters and with close to $45 million at the weekend box office, I think we can all officially call this film a success. It seems audiences weren’t too turned off by the liberties Aronofsky took with the traditional Biblical tale and most reviews seemed pretty positive. Of course, there were a few groups that took offense to the film, but anything other than a 30-minute telling with puppets was probably going to offend them. The other big new movie of the weekend didn’t fare quite as well, despite also getting positive reviews. Arnold Schwarzenegger just can’t catch a break these days as SABOTAGE couldn’t even crack the top five. By all accounts, this is the kind of movie fans want to see Schwarzenegger in, but for some reason, people aren’t going to the theater to see him.

Next week will be owned by CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER. It will be interesting to see how much money the sequel will make, especially since the third Captain America film will be going up against BATMAN VS SUPERMAN. I’m guessing the execs at Warner Bros. will be following it very closely to see if they have a shot of beating it in 2016. I expect the film to do well of course, but I doubt it will bring in Iron Man type money. We also get a couple of smaller releases, including Jude Law in DOM HEMINGWAY and Scarlett Johansson in UNDER THE SKIN. Note: the numbers below will be updated as they become final.

1. Noah $45.1m

2. Divergent $26.8m

3. The Muppets Most Wanted $11.8m

4. Mr. Peabody and Sherman $9.6m

5. God’s Not Dead $9m

6. The Grand Budapest Hotel $8.8m

7. Sabotage $5.2m

8. Need For Speed $4.3m

9. 300: Rise of an Empire $4.3m

10. Non-Stop $4.2m

(Deadline)