Saturday Box Office: 'Heaven Is For Real' Is For Real
Maybe it's an Easter surge, or maybe it's just the gradual mainstream lean towards Christian, faith-based films. Either way, Heaven Is For Real is proving to be a real force at the box office this weekend.
In yesterday's report, I noted that Heaven Is For Real was projected to finish with roughly $27 million for its five-day opening gross, ahead of the new Johnny Depp thriller, Transcendence.
But now, after factoring in Saturday ticket sales, the film is projected to make $28.5 million for its first five days, after grossing $21.5 million so far this weekend. The film, produced by renowned pastor T. D. Jakes, did huge business in the Bible Belt (the area covering the southeastern and southcentral United States).
Credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment
"It's really a terrific result," said Sony's distribution chief Rory Bruer. "And Easter was certainly a date that was in the wheelhouse of the film."
The same could be said for Noah and God's Not Dead, two religious films that come in at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. Noah brought in $5 million, with its domestic total resting at $93.2 million, just $6.8 million shy of the $100 million milestone. Meanwhile, God's Not Dead grossed $4.8 million, bringing the small, sleeper hit's total to an impressive $48.2 million.
The massive success for Heaven Is For Real is contrasted with the underwhelming performance of the latest unfortunate Johnny Depp bomb, Transcendence. The film has only raked in $11.5 million so far, which leaves it sitting in fourth place, behind Heaven Is For Real, Rio 2, and what looks to be the No. 1 film for a third consecutive weekend, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It's the third box office underperformer in a row for Depp, after the disappointing grosses for Dark Shadows and The Lone Ranger.
"The movie just missed its audience," said Warners executive vice president of distribution Jeff Goldstein, in the understatement of understatements. However, while Transcendence has taken a hit stateside, Warners is still looking to make up ground overseas.
As for the top two films of the week, Captain America: The Winter Soldier narrowly holds its lead over Rio 2, $26.6 million to $22.5 million. This is a rematch of sorts from last week, where Rio 2 was preemptively declared the weekend's winner on Saturday, only for Captain America to surge ahead and claim the top spot by Sunday. Could the inverse happen here? It's hard to know until the final numbers come in, but one thing is for sure: animation is huge at the box office this weekend.
Case in point, Frozen has now become the No. 6 movie of all time worldwide, as its total has come to $1.129 billion, surpassing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.114 billion) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($1.123 billion). It has also surpassed Ice Age 4 ($716 million) as the highest-grossing animated film of all-time internationally with $729.3 million.
I'll be back with the final box office numbers tomorrow. Until then, let me know what movies you've seen this weekend, if any, in the comments below! And have a safe and Happy Easter!