Young adults’ box office power
‘Divergent Series: Insurgent’ opens to $54 million, thanks to 25-and-under crowd.
Young adults again proved their box office might this past weekend as “The Divergent Series: Insurgent” launched to a studio-estimated $54 million in the U.S. and Canada.
Although the film from Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment topped the weekend rankings, it fell slightly short of the studio’s initial forecast of $55 million to $60 million. “Insurgent” opened on par with its predecessor, “Divergent,” which debuted with $54.6 million last year.
“Insurgent,” which follows a young woman (Shailene Woodley) fighting for freedom and survival in a dystopian society, pulled in about $47 million in 76 international markets, bringing its total global haul to about $101 million.
The Robert Schwentke-directed film, which cost $110 million to make and is based on popular novels by Veronica Roth, averaged only a 34% positive rating from critics
on Rotten Tomatoes but earned a solid A-minus score from audience polling firm CinemaScore.
Richie Fay, Lionsgate’s president of domestic theatrical distribution, attributed star power as the key to luring filmgoers. Woodley, the star of last year’s teen tear jerker “The Fault in Our Stars,” plus “The Spectacular Now” and “The Descendants,” has proved her box office might, especially among young audiences.
Woodley’s costars in “Insurgent” are Miles Teller (her love interest in “The Spectacular Now”), Ansel Elgort (her love interest in “The Fault in Our Stars”) and Theo James — also a young, rising actor.
Audiences were young (55% younger than 25) and female (60%), although the ratio of males was higher than for the first “Divergent” film.
In second place at the box office: Disney’s live-action “Cinderella,” which fell 49% in its second weekend but still added $34.5 million to its domestic gross. The film crossed the $120-million mark in the U.S. and Canada and has made more than $250 million globally.
Warner Bros.’ “Run All Night” finished third, adding $5.1 million. The film, which stars Liam Neeson as a hitman fighting to save his son, has made $19.7 million since its launch last week.
“The Gunman,” released by Open Road Films, flopped in its debut with a $5-million opening, good for fourth place. The action thriller follows a former Special Forces soldier (Sean Penn) with post traumatic stress disorder.
“Kingsman: The Secret Service” rounded out the top five, adding $4.6 million in its sixth weekend.
The faith-based “Do You Believe?” came in at sixth with a $4-million opening. The film is from the creators of “God’s Not Dead,” which opened a year ago with a surprisingly strong $9.2 million. Though some religious dramas have found success, “Do You Believe?” failed to draw in its target audience.
Next weekend, Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell’s comedy “Get Hard” and the animated “Home” are expected to provide solid counterprogramming for moviegoers.