‘The Winter Soldier’ ices the competition

The Avengers effect was on full display this weekend as Captain America: The Winter Soldier blew its predecessor out of the water, not to mention the other films currently playing in theatres, with a $96.2 million debut. That tallies out to a 48 percent improvement over the first Captain America’s opening weekend haul, and falls just shy of the wildly successful Iron Man’s $98.6 million bow in 2008. Since The Avengers premiered in summer of 2012, subsequent films featuring Avengers characters have enjoyed great success, prompting pundits to coin the term “The Avengers effect.” To wit: Iron Man 3’s debut was up 63 percent over pre-Avengers Iron Man 2, while Thor: The Dark World enjoyed a 30 percent bump over its predecessor. If Captain America: The Winter Soldier roughly follows the same theatrical trajectory as The Dark World, it should end up banking around $230 million in total. With audiences (64 percent male) awarding the movie an A CinemaScore grade, The Winter Soldier’s hold should prove strong in the weeks ahead.

Coming in way, way, practically subterranean (subaquatic?) below Captain America, Noah landed the weekend’s No. 2 spot with a $17 million gross. Down a whopping 61 percent from last weekend, Noah has so far earned $72.3 million.

For its part, the weekend’s No. 3 earner, Divergent, has raked in $114 million to date. It earned $13 million of that total this weekend.

God’s Not Dead continues to testify to the power of the faithful: The film added an additional $7.7 million to its cume that now stands at $32.5 million.  Clocking in at No. 5, The Grand Budapest Hotel continues to testify to the appeal of Wes Anderson: The film raked in $6.3 million. Its cume thus far tallies out to $33.4 million.

Halle Berry’s maltreated Frankie & Alice, which has been ready and waiting for theatrical release since 2010, finally debuted this weekend. Unfortunately, interest in the flick, for which Berry earned a Golden Globe nomination in ’10, was wanting. The movie earned just $350,000 from 171 locations.

On the positive end of the specialty spectrum, Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin starring Scarlett Johansson raked in $140,000 from four theatres (two in LA and two in New York City), which tallies out to a nice per-theatre average of $35,000.

Can the Captain break an April record?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier flies into 3,938 theatres today, by all indications readying itself for quite the stunt landing. This latest installment in the increasingly crowded Marvel cinematic universe has already broken the record for most advance tickets sold, according to Fandango. Overseas, the film has grossed more than $100 million.

Can Captain America break $100 million at the domestic box office this weekend? Between advance sales and positive reviews (87 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) it’s certainly possible, although most pundits are predicting slightly lower returns, in the still-magnificent $80-$90 million range. The Winter Soldier has a few things going for it: The return of Avengers crossover characters Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) as well as an association with the familiar S.H.I.E.L.D. organization (itself the subject of a TV series – media hybridity at its best), and the introduction of a new hero, Falcon (Anthony Mackie). The WWII period setting that dominated much of the first film has been swapped in favor of a contemporary Washington, D.C., backdrop. An ultra-modern conflict involving wiretapping, national security, and that thin line between necessary protection and unlawful invasion of privacy also lends the movie a topical boost. Critics certainly like it. All in all, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is poised to set a new April record. (Fast Five currently holds the title of Strongest April Debut, having opened to $86.2 million in 2011.)

The much delayed Halle Berry vehicle, Frankie and Alice, also opens this weekend in limited release. The movie has been ready and yet collecting dust on the shelves since 2010, even though Berry won an award for her portrayal of a woman suffering from multiple-personality disorder that year. From distributor Freestyle Releasing, Frankie and Alice changed hands to current distributor Code Black, which is a division of Lionsgate.  Even given the draw of Berry’s name, it’s unlikely Frankie and Alice will earn more than $500,000.

Holdovers Noah and Divergent should round out the weekend’s top three just behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Viewers inundate theatres for ‘Noah’

Darren Aronofosky’s Noah has proven itself an unqualified success. Having bowed to $44 million domestically, Noah has already grossed more than Aronofsky’s first four films combined. It marks the most successful debut ever for a film in which Russell Crowe plays the lead role.

Noah’s audience was evenly split along gender lines, and skewed older: About 74 percent was over the age of 25. Though they showed up in droves, viewers did not leave feeling overly impressed with what they saw, awarding the film a fairly weak C CinemaScore grade. However, recent success The Wolf of Wall Street also earned the middling C and yet managed to hold well. Noah, of course, doesn’t have the advantage of that movie’s Oscar buzz, but it still has a good chance of reaping $110 million in total.

Last weekend’s champ Divergent clocked in at No. 2. The YA actioner dipped 52 percent, which is an impressive hold, considering The Hunger Games suffered a downturn of 62 percent its second weekend in theatres. Divergent added another $26.5 million to its cume that now stands at over $95 million.

Third and fourth place went to current family offerings Muppets Most Wanted and Mr. Peabody & Sherman, respectively. The former may have failed to match the debut of its predecessor when it opened last weekend, but it made up for that disappointment (somewhat) by out-earning The Muppets its second weekend out of the gate. Most Wanted grossed $11.4 million, while The Muppets earned a weaker $11.1 million over its sophomore outing in 2011. For its part, Mr. Peabody & Sherman wasn’t too far behind Kermit and company with a $9.4 million haul. The animated flick now stands at $94.9 million and is on track to cross $100 million within the next several days.

Surprise hit God’s Not Dead continued to chart a successful box-office course. The faith-based film earned $9.1 million to land the weekend’s No. 5 slot. The movie can now boast $22 million after 10 days in theatres.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is officially the highest-grossing movie ever for director Wes Anderson.  The film finally expanded wide this past weekend and earned $8.8 million. Hotel’s cume stands at an impressive $24.4 million, with more on the way following this weekend’s continued expansion.

In dismal seventh place, Sabotage bombed with just $5.3 million. That is the worst haul for a film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in almost 30 years and is the actor’s third disappointment in a row. In other words, it might be time for Arnold to holster that gun.

Cesar Chavez raked in $3 million, which, although solid, yet fell short of expectation. The film will likely perform well on Monday, however, which is Cesar Chavez Day.

Finally, the weekend concluded on a considerable high note when Disney’s Frozen became the highest-grossing animated film of all time. The princess movie wrested the title from former record-holder Toy Story 3 when it opened strong in its final market, Japan. Where Toy Story 3 grossed $1.063 billion worldwide, Frozen has now earned $1.072 billion. Can it go on to beat The Dark Knight Rises ($1.084 billion)?

'Noah’ to flood theatres

Will all the controversy and all the press awarded the controversy reap dividends at the box office this weekend? That’s the question facing Darren Aronofsky’s Noah. The director’s Biblical epic (action movie? Disaster flick? Faith-based offering? The latter seems the most unlikely…) opens in 3,500 theatres today. The familiar story of a man, a flood, and a host of animals boasts a trio of recognizable names: Jennifer Connelly, who is aces at playing crazy Russell Crowe’s supportive wife; Emma Watson; and of course, Crowe himself. Aronofsky, who directed 2010’s Academy Award-winning Black Swan, also brings a formidable fanbase to the table. All told, Paramount is expecting returns to tally out to between $30 and $33 million. Noah is already performing well overseas, in South Korea and Mexico specifically, where it bowed last week. Even if the movie fails to gain traction in the United States, international sales should help keep it out of the red.

Cesar Chavez, about the life and work of the iconic Mexican civil-rights activist, and Sabotage, starring the iconic (of a different sort) Arnold Schwarzenegger, also open this weekend, though neither is expected to do boffo business. Playing in 2,486 locations, the latter is Schwarzenegger’s most recent attempt at a big-screen comeback. His last two efforts, 2013's The Last Stand and Escape Plan, barely made a splash at the box office and didn’t do much to revive his acting career. With poor reviews (21 percent rotten on Rotten Tomatoes) and a rote drug-cartel-and-kidnapping plotline, it would be surprising if Sabotage proved the hit Arnold has been waiting for. Expect an opening weekend gross of under $10 million.

Cesar Chavez has also received poor reviews (37 percent rotten), however, a strong Hispanic turnout could propel the film to modest success. Opening in 644 locations, Chavez could pull in as much as, or even more than, $5 million.

Building momentum like a snowball racing down one of those mountains framing The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson’s specialty hit expands yet again this weekend, to 1,000 theatres. Jason Bateman’s Bad Words finally gets its wide release (800 theatres) today, but having disappointed in limited release the past two weekends, expectations for the movie’s broader national performance are low.