Weekend box-office – 24th to 30th of May 2014 – will Godzilla roar over Bad Neighbours?

Big things are expected of British filmaker Gareth Edwards, despite the fact that his only directing credit is the micro budget sci-fi horror Monsters (which took a respectable but not outstanding £4 million). However, he’s getting the attention of Star Wars and his new retelling of Godzilla is predicted to become the year’s biggest hit so far. Last week, we predicted that it’d top the chart but let’s see how it got on.

US:

1. Godzilla – Director: Gareth Edwards – $93.2 million
2. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller – $26 million
3. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – $17 million
4. Million Dollar Arm – Craig Gillespie – $11 million
5. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes – $6.3 million

UK:

1. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – £6.4 million
2. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller – £1.4 million
3. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – £0.5 million
4. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes – £0.4 million
5. The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini – £0.3 million

We’re immensely pleased that Godzilla has had the second biggest US opening, just behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier and pipping ahead of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 but it’s likely to have better legs internationally than either of those superhero flicks. Frat comedy Bad Neighbours is continuing its excellent run but we wouldn’t be too surprised if it is undone at the box office by 22 Jump Street or Million Ways to Die in the West. Spider-Man 2 is sliding down slowly (it’s still slightly behind expectation) while Million Dollar Arm’s mediocre opening is causing questions of Jon Hamm’s translation from small to big screen. This week I’ve score 7/10 taking my running total to 142/290.

US:

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer
2. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards
3. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller
4. Blended – Frank Coraci
5. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb

UK:

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer
2. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards
3. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller
4. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb
5. Blended – Frank Coraci

Elizabeth Olsen in Godzilla, this week’s UK and US number one.

Weekend box office – 17th to 23rd of May 2014 – can Spider-Man 2 catch Bad Neighbours?

The title race for this year’s comedy smash hit arguably began with The Other Woman a couple of weeks back but the first real contender is this week’s Bad Neighbours, a star studded comedy set to rip into the box office. Additionally, its release is kickstarting the summer movie season. Last week, we predicted it’d leap in ahead of The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s second week of release but let’s see how it got on.

US:

1. Bad Neighbours – Director: Nicholas Stoller – $49 million
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – $35.1 million
3. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes – $9.6 million
4. Heaven is for Real – Randall Wallace – $7.5 million
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – $5.8 million

UK:

1. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller – £8.4 million
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – £1.3 million
3. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes – £0.9 million
4. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – £0.6 million
5. Pompeii – Paul WS Anderson – £0.5 million

It’s not too surprising to find Bad Neighbours topping both sides of the Atlantic but this is the first time in a while that the UK and US box office top 3 have been identical. Superhero adventure Spider-Man 2 is doing decent numbers but it may not be the ones that Sony hoped for, as it is The Winter Soldier will lead it at the end of the year. Revenge comedy The Other Woman meanwhile is still holding out but its unlikely to be remembered. Despite a critical thrashing, Heaven is for Real is still reeling in the predominantly Christian audience in America while, in the UK, historical epic Pompeii is getting increasingly unlikely to breach the $100 million mark, let alone it’s minimal target of $160 million. This week’s score of 6/10 takes my running total to 135/280.

US:

1. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards
2. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller
3. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb
4. Million Dollar Arm – Craig Gillespie
5. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes

UK:

1. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards
2. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller
3. The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini
4. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb
5. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes

Zac Efron, Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne in Bad Neighbours, this week’s UK and US box office number one.