‘Divergent’ to dive into first place

Young adult novel adaptation Divergent is tracking strong among advanced ticket sales and should easily win the weekend’s top spot. Right now, the film accounts for 80 percent of weekend sales, according to Fandango. Lionsgate/Summit is clearly hoping for another successful franchise in the vein of its Twilight and Hunger Games series. Author Veronica Roth’s trilogy does have a large and devoted fanbase, and Divergent the film apparently has the most Instagram followers ever for a movie. However, mega or even sustained success largely depends upon Divergent’s ability to lure viewers who are unfamiliar with the books. If that’s the case, the film might be in trouble. Roundly poor reviews (38 percent rotten on Rotten Tomatoes) will certainly deter some would-be audience members. Opening weekend should prove very strong, $60 million or so, propelled by the power of the literary faithful. How well Divergent holds from there on out, however, is anyone’s guess.

If Divergent is practically assured first-place standing this weekend, then Muppets Most Wanted will clock in at No. 2.  The follow-up to 2011’s reboot The Muppets opens in 3,194 theatres today. It’s received fairly positive reviews (77 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and, though it doesn’t include The Muppets stars Amy Adams and Jason Segel, it does have Tina Fey as well as Ricky Gervais and Ty Burrell to act as major draws. Whether that’s enough, and whether or not families are ready to move on from Mr. Peabody & Sherman, will largely determine whether this weekend’s second-place champion crosses $25 million.

Smaller releases bowing today include the faith-based film God’s Not Dead (780 theatres), Blood Ties (28 theatres) and Nymph()maniac Vol. 1 (24 theatres). Although Kirk Cameron’s Fireproof was something of a surprise hit in 2008, opening to $6.8 million, more recent Christian films, including The Grace Card, The Ultimate Gift and To Save a Life, opened much softer, earning between $1 and $2 million. In all likelihood, God’s Not Dead will also rake in a smaller pile of earnings, as will Blood Ties, which, for all its star-studded cast (Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, Marion Cotillard) has been given little to no exposure and received mostly negative reviews. Nymph()maniac is a tougher one to call: Prurient interest in its subject could drive sales, but the movie has also been available on VOD for several weeks. Some pundits are speculating this is the type of film people are more comfortable watching in their homes, in which case, expect a fairly modest opening for this latest from Lars von Trier.

Finally, specialty juggernaut (funny, considering the director’s thing for miniatures) The Grand Budapest Hotel expands to 304 locations today, and Jason Bateman’s Bad Words screens in 87. The latter opens wide next weekend, on Friday, March 28.

‘Non-Stop’ tops ‘Son of God’

The question on everyone’s lips, “Who would win in a fight between Liam Neeson and Jesus?” has been settled. The country’s favorite action star KO’ed the iconic religious figure $30 million to $26.5 million at the box office this weekend. Non-Stop’s impressive opening haul exceeded the debuts of Neeson’s last two movies, Unknown (which bowed to $21.9 million in 2011) and 2011’s The Grey ($19.7 million). The airborne thriller is Universal’s third movie to open at No. 1 this year, after Lone Survivor and Ride Along. A few more women than men purchased tickets to the film (the audience breakdown was 51 percent female) and were mostly part of an older crowd (65 percent of attendees were over the age of 25). They generally liked what they saw, awarding Non-Stop an A- CinemaScore rating, which means the movie should hold well over the next few weeks. It will likely top out at around $80 million.

Son of God impressed with its second-place standing. The movie about the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, a repurposing of The History Channel’s “The Bible” mini-series, far out-performed other recent religious films, including The Nativity Story (2006) and Kirk Cameron’s Fireproof (2008), which opened to $7.8 million and $6.8 million, respectively. Of course, it didn’t attain the fiscal heights of Mel Gibson’s blockbuster The Passion of The Christ – which earned $26 million on its first day – but, lacking that film’s controversy and star power, this was to be expected. Attendees were 62 percent female and 82 percent over the age of 25 and also awarded the move an A- CinemaScore grade. Such a favorable audience reaction portends continued steady, if not stellar, success, however, many pundits are unsure how well Son of God will hold through the rest of its theatrical run, as well as for how long that run will last.

As expected, The Lego Movie clocked in at No. 3. The awesomely successful animated hit raked in another $21 million and, on Saturday, became the first movie released in 2014 to cross the $200 million mark.

In fourth place, The Monuments Men continues to defy the critics and do great business. George Clooney’s labor of art love earned $5 million, which has boosted the movie’s overall cume to $65.7 million.

The two new releases that opened wide last weekend, 3 Days to Kill and Pompeii, both suffered steep drops their second weekend out of the gate. Kevin Costner-starrer Kill dropped 60 percent to gross $4.9 million, earning it the weekend’s No. 5 spot. Pompeii eased 58 percent to take in $4.3 million.

Smaller and specialty releases did their part to contribute to the weekend’s BO earnings as well. The Wind Rises fared the best, grossing $1.6 million from 496 locations, followed by the extended cut of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which earned $1.34 million. Repentance, starring Forest Whitaker and Anthony Mackie, made $530,000 from 152 locations, while Russian 3D war film Stalingrad tallied out to $500,000, having screened in 308 theatres.

Finally, Oscar contenders, led by American Hustle, continued to draw audiences right up until the big telecast on Sunday night. Combined, the nine nominees for Best Picture earned around $7.4 million, with American Hustle raking in the largest haul with its $1.9 million weekend gross.

'Left Behind' series in pursuit of a second big-screen treatment

By Sarah Sluis

The current success of Courageous, which was made for just a couple million dollars and has reaped fifteen times that at the box office, has all eyes on the faith-based movie market. Not every project is a success (see the recent The Mighty Macs), but movies such as 2008's Fireproof, last year's The Blind Side, which successfully marketed to Christians, and, of course, The Passion of the Christ show that movies that resonate with the faith-based market can tap millions of moviegoers who most likely select the movies they see in theatres very, very carefully. The Left Behind series, which read like a pulp thriller but dramatize the end-of-times beliefs that are very real to many evangelists, has already been adapted for the screen. Kirk Cameron (of Fireproof) starred in the original, which made just $4 million during its brief 2001 run at the box office. Two more movies followed, Tribulation Force and Left Behind: World at War, though neither released theatrically. According to IMDB, the final film released in churches instead of in theatres.

Now there are plans to redo the series with a $15 million budget. (The trailer for the original suggests a lower budget than $15 million). The number is low given the amount of action involved, but THR labels it an "ambitious" project for the small, faith-based production company, Cloud Ten Pictures. A new screenplay was written by original writer/producer Paul Lalonde and John Patus, who consulted on or wrote the scripts for the three movies. The fact that the original players are involved doesn't suggest that the movie will have an entirely fresh take.

Left Behind is a disaster-fueled apocalypse that has very compelling moments. The book starts with a pilot's startling development that half the people on his flight have disappeared (they've been raptured). The pilot and his daughter, who were both left behind because they weren't true believers, become believers. They join up with others and go on a quest to defeat the Antichrist, who scripture says will rise to power after the Rapture.

As I wrote last week, apocalypse projects are all the rage now, so a redo could tap into a larger trend. If done right, the movie could expand beyond its Christian base, even if some viewers read the Rapture explanation as science fiction rather than religious probability.