Box Office: 'Captain America 2' Busts April Records with $96M, Over $300M Worldwide

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier- $96.2M
Marvel's license to print money continues with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which broke all domestic April records with a $96M debut, surpassing Fast Five's $86M. Like all of the studio's films since The Avengers, it was leaps and abounds above its predecessor, scoring 47% more than Captain America: The First Avenger, and securing Marvel's position as Hollywood's top dog for comic book films. Sorry, Warner Bros., but you may want to consider moving that Batman vs. Superman release date in 2016 to avoid the freight train of Captain America 3.
2. Noah- $17M/$72.3M
As Captain America soared, Noah sunk to the bottom of the sea. The Russell Crowe-led Biblical action flick dropped 61% in its second week, but at $178M worldwide it's doing pretty well.
3. Divergent- $13M/$114M
4. God's Not Dead- $7.7M/$32.5M
The incredible run of faith-based drama God's Not Dead continues. The film expanded to 1700 theaters and slipped only 12% in week three.
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel- $6.3M/$33.3M
Entering the top five is Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, which was in more than 1260 theaters and dropped only 26%.
6. Muppets Most Wanted- $6.2M/$42.1M
7. Mr. Peabody & Sherman- $5.3M/$102.2M
Dreamworks' Mr. Peabody & Sherman has surprisingly surpassed the $100M mark domestically, but has double that when the international haul is factored in.
8. Sabotage- $1.9M/$8.7M
9. Need for Speed- $1.83M/$40.8M
10. Non-Stop- $1.82M/$88.1M

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Box Office: 'Divergent' Opens to Strong $56M; 'Muppets Most Wanted' Not So Much

1. Divergent- $56M
On first glance, the $56M debut of Divergent may seem underwhelming, until you consider that it's more than the opening weekends of the last four YA adaptations outside of The Hunger Games movies. For comparison's sake, the film doesn't come close to matching The Hunger Games' $152M debut, but that was never going to be the case. Shailene Woodley, as great an actress as she is, doesn't enter in on quite the same upswing as Jennifer Lawrence, and these adaptations now come with a certain stigma that wasn't present before. Now it's going to be about managing expectations for the future. The sequel, Insurgent, has already been green lit with a brand new director, which should please the audiences that gave Divergent an 'A' Cinemascore.
2. Muppets Most Wanted- $16.5M
Muppets Most Wanted begins with catchy musical number openly proclaiming the sequel won't be as good as the original, and it turns out it won't make as much money, either. The film opened to only $16.5M, disappointing but not totally unexpected. 2011's The Muppets rode in on a wave of nostalgia and genuine excitement for the return of Jim Henson's popular creations, but the sequel has always felt a little desperate and unnecessary. The soft opening weekend probably wasn't helped by the continued strong performances by Mr. Peabody & Sherman and The LEGO Movie. This may be the last we see of Kermit and the gang on the big screen. Maybe a new weekly TV series would work?
3. Mr. Peabody & Sherman- $11.7M/$81M
4. 300: Rise of an Empire- $8.6M/$93.7M
5. God's Not Dead- $8.5M
Christian-themed dramas continue to do big business in the specialty market, with the mostly unheard of God's Not Dead opening to $8.5M in 780 screens. It's only in movies like this that guys like Dean Cain and Kevin Sorbo can be box office giants. Anyway, this looks to be doing roughly the same business as prior religious hits like Fireproof and Courageous. Maybe this bodes well for Darren Aronofsky's Noah, which opens next week? Eh, probably not. Different audiences, I think.
6. Need for Speed- $7.7M/$30.4M
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel- $6.7M/$12.9M
8. Non-Stop- $6.3M/$78.6M
9. The LEGO Movie- $4.1M/$243.3M
10. Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club- $3.1M/$12.9M

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