LOS ANGELES (AP) - Few things are as bold as a trio of scorned women.
At the box office this weekend, superhero Captain America was overpowered by Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton, whose revenge comedy “The Other Woman” debuted at No. 1.
Fox’s female-driven hit halted three-week box office leader “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”
The comedy about three women wronged by a three-timing spouse played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of “Game of Thrones” - raked in $25 million according to Monday’s final box office figures.
The Disney-Marvel “Captain America” sequel has had a great run, marking its place in history as the blockbuster with the best April opening ever. This weekend it added $16.2 million in ticket sales, bringing its domestic haul to more than $225 million.
After debuting above expectations, Sony’s faith-based “Heaven Is for Real” continued to show well, finishing in third place with $14.4 million in its second weekend.
The animated “Rio 2” dropped a spot to fourth place with $14 million, while “Brick Mansions,” starring Paul Walker, had a firm opening with $10 million at No. 5. The action crime drama was one of the last film’s Walker completed before he died in a car accident in November. It was pushed back from its original February release date.
A24 Films’ “Locke,” starring Tom Hardy, scored the weekend’s highest per-screen average after debuting on only four screens in New York and Los Angeles. The Steven Knight directed drama, which will expand to more theaters in the coming weeks, banked $89,210 overall.
This year, the film distribution company also released the sci-fi drama “Under the Skin,” featuring Scarlett Johansson, and thriller “Enemy” with Jake Gyllenhaal. “Skin” opened slightly higher than “Locke” in early April with $133,154 domestically, reaching a total of over $1.5 million. “Enemy” has earned over $992,000 after opening in March.
Since launching in 2012, A24 has distributed an impressive flock of films, including “Spring Breakers,” ’’The Bling Ring” and “The Spectacular Now.” Together, the projects collected over $26 million. Not a bad run for a boutique distributor.
“We really are very big on directors and we really love when there is a real vision behind a film from a director,” A24 Films executive Nicolette Aizenberg said about one of the key factors at play when the company chooses a project to distribute.
The directors - including Sofia and Roman Coppola and Jonathan Glazer - also have a strong hand in their films’ marketing strategies.
“We like to have directors sign off,” added Aizenberg. “We want to remain true to their vision.”
Due to the one-man show that is “Locke” - the film sees Hardy spend 85 minutes alone in a car while tackling a series of events jeopardizing his carefully patterned existence. Aizenberg admits it was a tough one to market.
But they chose to focus on Hardy’s strength as a leading man and the positive word of mouth.
“The reviews for ’Locke’ were amazing,” said Aizenberg. “You’re always nervous the day you open a movie, but Tom is really a star. People want to see what he will do next.”
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The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak, are:
1. “The Other Woman,” 20th Century Fox, $24,763,752, 3,205 locations, $7,727 average, $24,763,752, 1 week.
2. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Disney, $16,219,025, 3,620 locations, $4,480 average, $225,059,241, 4 weeks.
3. “Heaven Is for Real,” Sony, $14,351,252, 2,705 locations, $5,305 average, $52,462,168, 2 weeks.
4. “Rio 2,” 20th Century Fox, $13,881,457, 3,703 locations, $3,749 average, $96,389,900, 3 weeks.
5. “Brick Mansions,” Relativity Media, $9,516,855, 2,647 locations, $3,595 average, $9,516,855, 1 week.
6. “Transcendence,” Warner Bros., $4,226,339, 3,455 locations, $1,223 average, $18,593,305, 2 weeks.
7. “The Quiet Ones,” Lionsgate, $3,880,053, 2,027 locations, $1,914 average, $3,880,053, 1 week.
8. “Bears,” Disney, $3,734,588, 1,720 locations, $2,171 average, $11,281,525, 2 weeks.
9. “Divergent,” Lionsgate, $3,658,966, 2,066 locations, $1,771 average, $139,521,857, 6 weeks.
10. “A Haunted House 2,” Open Road, $3,202,679, 2,310 locations, $1,386 average, $14,183,335, 2 weeks.
11. “God’s Not Dead,” Freestyle Releasing, $2,805,833, 1,600 locations, $1,754 average, $52,705,660, 6 weeks.
12. “Draft Day,” Lionsgate, $2,783,208, 2,080 locations, $1,338 average, $24,161,059, 3 weeks.
13. “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Fox Searchlight, $2,459,171, 1,021 locations, $2,409 average, $48,803,152, 8 weeks.
14. “Noah,” Paramount, $2,283,681, 1,604 locations, $1,424 average, $97,314,552, 5 weeks.
15. “Oculus,” Relativity Media, $2,184,015, 1,881 locations, $1,161 average, $25,223,301, 3 weeks.
16. “The Railway Man,” The Weinstein Company, $578,452, 156 locations, $3,708 average, $895,291, 3 weeks.
17. “Muppets Most Wanted,” Disney, $566,362, 565 locations, $1,002 average, $49,411,389, 6 weeks.
18. “Mr. Peabody And Sherman,” 20th Century Fox, $552,283, 468 locations, $1,180 average, $108,047,878, 8 weeks.
19. “2 States,” UTV Communications, $434,586, 137 locations, $3,172 average, $1,742,448, 2 weeks.
20. “The Lego Movie,” Warner Bros., $355,963, 303 locations, $1,175 average, $252,798,441, 12 weeks.
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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
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