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 That’s a disappointment for Lionsgate, the studio behind the
adaptations of Veronica Roth’s best-selling books about a
dystopian future. It hoped that the franchise would be able to
build on its initial start, aided by star Shailene Woodley’s
higher profile following the success of “The Fault in Our
Stars.” Going into the weekend, Lionsgate had been projecting an
opening of between $57 million to $60 million.
“Insurgent’s” audience was 60 percent female and 55 percent
under 25. Hispanics made up 17 percent of the opening weekend
crowd and African-Americans comprised 11 percent of ticket
buyers.
The studio says it's happy with the results, noting that with an
A-minus CinemaScore and a lack of upcoming film releases pegged
at teenage girls, “Insurgent” has a clear runway.
“Our playability is incredibly strong,” said Richie Fay,
Lionsgate’s distribution chief. “We’re seeing a few more males
than we did on the first one and we’re seeing an overall
broadening of the audience.”
“Insurgent” cost $110 million to produce, roughly $25 million
more than “Divergent” racked up in production fees. “Divergent”
opened to $54.6 million before going on to make $288.7 million
globally.
Internationally, “Insurgent” grossed an estimated $47 million in
76 markets. Even if the film’s domestic results are weaker than
Lionsgate might have hoped, foreign markets where Roth’s books
have grown more popular over the last year could make up the
difference, leading to a greater worldwide bounty.
The weekend’s other major wide release, “The Gunman,” fired
blanks, picking up a meager $5 million and seemingly deep-sixing
Sean Penn’s plans to be an aging action star. Open Road
distributed the film in 2,816 theaters and had expected a debut
in the $8 million range. “The Gunman’s” modest results were good
enough for a fourth place finish in an otherwise slow weekend.
“Obviously we had hoped for a little bit more,” said Jason
Cassidy, chief marketing officer at Open Road Films. “It’s a
tough market out there and there are a lot of male-oriented
action films, so it’s tough to penetrate.”
“The Gunman’s” roughly $40 million production budget was fully
funded by StudioCanal. Critics torched the picture.
“The Gunman” has good company. Over the past two weeks,
testosterone-fueled entertainments like “Run All Night” and
“Chappie” have collapsed at the box office.
“It’s an interesting dichotomy,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior
media analyst at Rentrak. “Women are driving the box office
right now.”
Pure Flix’s “Do You Believe?” also debuted last weekend,
operating from the same playbook as “God’s Not Dead,” the
low-budget, faith-based film that stunned box office analysts
with a massive debut last spring. “Do You Believe?” couldn’t hit
the same figures, earning $4 million across 1,320 theaters.
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“We’d have liked it to open a little bit stronger, but we think that
word-of-mouth is going to start to kick in,” said Michael Scott,
co-founder of Pure Flix.
“Do You Believe?” will expand by roughly 100 theaters, Pure Flix
said. The company is working with church groups, as it did on “God’s
Not Dead,” in order to drive attendance.
“Leading up to the Easter holiday and being about the message of the
cross we’re going to see a little kick in the coming weeks as we
head towards Palm Sunday,” said Scott.
Last weekend’s champ “Cinderella” showed impressive endurance
despite the challenge from “Insurgent” capturing second place on the
charts with roughly $34.5 million. That was a 49 percent dip from
its premiere and brings the Disney film’s domestic total to $122
million.
The presence of “Cinderella” may have shaved a little bit off of
“Insurgent’s” results. When the first “Divergent” debuted in
theaters in 2014, there were no major films pitched at females in
the marketplace, with its competition coming from family titles like
“Muppets Most Wanted” and “Mr. Peabody and Sherman.”
In third place, “Run All Night” fell 54 percent to $5.1 million. The
Warner Bros. action thriller has generated $19.7 million after two
weeks in theaters. “Kingsman: The Secret Service” continued to be
the year’s quietest blockbuster, adding $4.6 million to its pot and
nabbing fifth place on the chart. The Fox spy adventure has made
$114.6 million since opening in February.
Horror film “It Follows” capitalized on strong reviews to earn
$352,248, bringing its total to $576,275. Radius-TWC shook up the
film’s release pattern. It expanded from just four theaters last
weekend to 32 screens and will roll out to over 1,000 next weekend.
Because of the strong response, the studio is postponing the
picture’s VOD release.
Among art house releases, Bleecker Street’s “Danny Collins” bowed to
$73,157 in five theaters for a per-screen average of $14,631. The
film stars Al Pacino as an aging rock star.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle Lionsgate faced with “Insurgent” was
not “Cinderella” or the fickle tastes of teen moviegoers, but its
own past history of success with “The Hunger Games.”
“This is a victim of unfair comparisons to ‘Hunger Games,'” said
Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
“No movie deserves that. It’s too big of a hurdle to overcome.
‘Divergent’ is not ‘The Hunger Games,’ but that doesn’t mean it’s
not successful.”
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