Weekend box-office – 26th of April to 2nd of May 2014 – Can Spider-Man 2 swing past Rio 2?

2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man did impressive numbers worldwide but it still undergrossed its Sam Raimi helmed predecessors. Last week, we predicted that the new sequel would top the UK box office but we may have slightly underestimated its success. Meanwhile, Johnny Depp is hoping for better things after the commercial flop of The Lone Ranger with his sci-fi drama Transcendence, which is also the directorial debut of Chris Nolan veteran Wally Pfister.

US:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo – $25.6 million
2. Heaven is for Real – Randall Wallace – $22.5 million
3. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – $22.2 million
4. Transcendence – Wally Pfister – $10.9 million
5. A Haunted House 2 – Michael Tiddes – $8.8 million

UK:

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – £9 million
2. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – £1.1 million
3. Noah – Darren Aronofsky – £0.9 million
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – £0.8 million
5. The Love Punch – Joel Hopkins – £0.6 million

Transcendence is probably this year’s first flop that was actually expected to succeed, there was never much hope for Legend of Hercules or I Frankenstein. It’s a genuine shock to find Johnny Depp no longer a bankable Hollywood star and that Pfister, the greatly talented cinematographer of Inception and The Dark Knight fame, is miles from Nolan’s billion dollar successes. Meanwhile, The Winter Soldier is close to surpassing Thor: The Dark World’s takings, reaching $610 million.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has made a deep impression in its opening weekend, higher than the UK debuts of both The Winter Soldier and The Dark World but the judge of its success will likely be in America. Comedy drama The Love Punch and horror spoof sequel A Haunted House 2 round off both of this week’s charts. From my predictions, I’ve scored 3/10 taking my running total to 118/250.

US:

1. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo
3. Heaven is For Real – Randall Wallace
4. Brick Mansions – Camille Delamarre
5. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha

UK:

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb
2. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes
3. Transcendence – Wally Pfister
4. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha
5. Tracks – John Curran

Andrew Garfield and Jamie Foxx in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, this week’s Uk number one.

Anthony Mackie in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, this week’s US number one.

Weekend box-office – 19th to 25th of April 2014 – can The Winter Soldier chill Rio 2?

After setting alight the US box-office last week with a $95 million debut, Marvel’s thriller Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s real test comes this week when we discover if it’ll have a lasting effect. However, it faces a huge threat in the form of star-studded animated sequel Rio 2. Meanwhile in the UK, The Winter Soldier is attempting to regain its financial hold after slipping down last week.

US:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Director: Anthony and Joe Russo – $41.4 million
2. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – $39 million
3. Oculus – Mike Flanagan – $12 million
4. Draft Day – Ivan Reitman – $9.8 million
5. Divergent – Neil Burger – $7.5 million

UK:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – £1.8 million
2. Noah – Darren Aronofsky – £1.6 million
3. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – £1.6 million
4. Divergent – Neil Burger – £1 million
5. The Quiet Ones – John Pogue – £0.7 million

Subversive superhero action adventure The Winter Soldier has slashed into its critical and financial expectations with five star reviews all round and a recent push past $500 million worldwide but horror flicks Oculus and The Quiet Ones have had to make do with modest entries. Biblical epic Noah has sank from second to sixth suddenly while Kevin Costner baseball comedy has fared poorly with the competition. From last week’s predictions, I’ve scored 5/10, taking my running total to 115/240.

US:

1. Transcendence – Wally Pfister
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo
3. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha
4. A Haunted House 2 – Michael Tiddes
5. Oculus – Mike Flanagan

UK:

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo
3. Noah – Darren Aronofsky
4. Locke – Stephen Knight
5. Divergent – Neil Burger

Robert Redford and Chris Evans in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, this week’s UK and US number one.