The Best Films of 2014 – the Half-Way Point

Looking at any annual film schedule, its evident that the first half of the year can never quite live up to the second and 2014 is no exception. This year really did get off to a rotten start with 47 Ronin, The Legend of Hercules and I Frankenstein dragging their heals at the box-office but this did pave a way for others; The Wolf of Wall Street and Ride Along both enjoyed three consecutive weeks at the top of the UK and US box-office respectively. Following that came some genuine surprises. Wes Anderson’s ensemble comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel reached 1st and 3rd in the UK and US against all odds and The Lego Movie, one of the most poorly marketed films in recent years, was an unexpected treat and certainly and future cult classic.

The biblical format seemed to increase in popularity around Easter with the low-key Christian dramas Heaven is For Real, Son of God and God’s Not Dead taking nearly thirty times their micro-budgets but these religious flicks aren’t proving successful outside of America, besides Aronofsky’s star-driven epic Noah. The “Katniss-effect” of The Hunger Games has evidently given studios the faith to put stronger female characters into the fray of action and adventure with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent and Shailene Woodley’s Divergent winning out over Johnny Depp’s Transcendence or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Sabotage financially. Edge of Tomorrow even managed it to the extent of Tom Cruise needing saving from Emily Blunt’s ultimate warrior.

In the last six months, certain individuals are lighting up the box-office left, right and centre. Former comedian Kevin Hart has lead a trio of success, Ride Along, About Last Night and Think Like a Man Too, while the Jump Street quartet (director Phil Lord and Chris Miller/stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) have a cinematic Midas-touch. It’s evident that Lego’s Chris Pratt can do no wrong and, with Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy coming soon, he’s well on his way to man-of-the-year status. The biggest winners of the year have to be Marvel. Even though their heroes are divided across Sony, Fox and Disney, Stan Lee’s creations of Spider-Man, Captain America (kind-of) and the X-Men are currently the three biggest films of the year so far and they’ll only continue to grow bigger.

Below you can find the international box-office top ten followed by our own personal picks of the year so far as well as the ten to look for in the rest of 2014:

International Box-office Top 10:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Director: Anthony and Joe Russo – Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones – Box-office: $710.8 million
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper – $703.3 million
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till – $700 million
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville – $531.8 million
5. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche – $478.7 million
6. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am – $469.4 million
7. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders – $467.2 million
8. Noah – Darren Aronofsky – Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins – $356.2 million
9. 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Lena Headey, Jack O’Connell, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham – $331.1 million
10. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong – $298.8 million

Tuorhoth’s Top 10:

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till
2. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche
3. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones
5. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong
6. The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini – Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst
7. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Justin Chadwick – Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
8. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Kenneth Branagh – Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, Gemma Chan
9. RoboCop – Jose Padilha – Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Jackie Earle Haley, Aimee Garcia, Michael K Williams, Samuel L Jackson
10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper

Top 10 Anticipated:

1. Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Topher Grace, Casey Affleck, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Matt Damon
2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee
3. Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Rosamund Pike
4. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong
5. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, John C Reilly
6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, James Franco, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit McPhee
7. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Sam Clafin, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Natalie Dormer, Philip Seymour, Hoffman
8. Fury – David Ayer – Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Jason Isaacs, Michael Pena, Shia LeBeouf
9. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
10. The Judge – David Dobkin – Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Farmiga

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.

Weekend box-office – 10th to 16th of May 2014 – will Other Woman get revenge on Spider-Man 2?

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is kicking off the summer movie season with its US release but early predictions saw it falling behind blockbusters Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Godzilla. Sony need their sequel to take off otherwise their planned franchise could be quickly forgotten.

US:

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Director: Marc Webb – $92 million
2. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes – $14.2 million
3. Heaven is for Real – Randall Wallace – $8.6 million
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – $7.7 million
5. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – $7.6 million

UK:

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – £2 million
2. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes – £1.4 million
3. Pompeii – Paul WS Anderson – £1.2 million
4. Tarzan – Reinhard Klooss – £0.8 million
5. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – £0.5 million

Spider-Man 2 has done decent numbers but it’s still greatly disappointing. The new X-Men, ordinarily the timid cousin of Avengers and Spider-Man, has a predicted $125 million coming its way. Meanwhile The Other Woman has hardly capitalised on this position, sitting still in second place. While it has been impressive, the revenge comedy is likely to lose the title of this year’s big summer comedy to Bad Neighbours, A Million Ways to Die in the West or 22 Jump Street. Despite these surprises, this week I’ve scored a decent 4/10, taking my running total to 129/270.

US:

1. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb
3. Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return – Will Finn, Dan St Pierre
4. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes
5. Heaven if For Real – Randall Wallace

UK:

1. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb
3. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes
4. Sabotage – David Ayer
5. Pompeii – Paul WS Anderson

Andrew Garfield, Dane DeHaan and Emma Stone in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, this week’s UK and US number one.

Weekend box-office – 3rd to 9th of May 2014 – can Marvel’s Spider-Man and Winter Soldier hold off The Other Woman?

This week, two of Marvel’s blockbusters are the targets of feminised revenge comedy The Other Woman. Last week, we boldly predicted that thriller Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which has been kicking around a good few weeks, would slip down a place in the US but the more recent Amazing Spider-Man 2 would hold off the competition in the UK. Meanwhile sci-fi commercial flop Transcendence is attempting to regain some success after its initial flop.

US:

1. The Other Woman – Director: Nick Cassavetes – $24.8 million
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – $16.2 million
3. Heaven if For Real – Randall Wallace – $14.4 million
4. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – $13.9 million
5. Brick Mansions – Camille Delamarre – $9.5 million

UK

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – £3.4 million
2. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes – £2.7 million
3. Transcendence – Wally Pfister – £1.2 million
4. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – £0.9 million
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – £0.6 million

The Other Woman has debuted modestly and it’ll likely surpass $100 million worldwide but these statistics are hardly breakout comedy of the summer stuff, that title will likely go to Bad Neighbours, Tammy or A Million Ways to Die in the West. Captain America meanwhile has just reached the $650 million mark, just beating Thor: The Dark World’s total. The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s takings have dropped however, despite retaining the number one spot. Having scored 7/10, I’ve taken my running total to 125/260.

US:

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb
2. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo
4. Walk of Shame – Steven Brill
5. Heaven is for Real – Randall Wallace

UK:

1. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb
3. Pompeii – Paul WS Anderson
4. Transcendence – Wally Pfister
5. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha

Dane DeHaan and Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, this week’s UK number one.

Leslie Mann, Cameron Diaz and Kate Upton in The Other Woman, this week’s US number one.

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.

Weekend box-office – 12th to 18th of April 2014 – can Captain America shield its success from Rio?

Last week, Marvel’s Captain America sequel The Winter Soldier made an excellent entry into the UK box office but it was a fair bit behind recent Marvel instalments such as Thor: The Dark World in terms of financial success. We were unsure of its fortune in the US but it seems as if the patriotic hero has triumphed in his home country. Meanwhile in the UK, The Winter Soldier came into its second week in the chart against three huge new entries: animated sequel Rio 2, biblical epic Noah and teen-novel adaptation (and number one US smash hit) Divergent.

US:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Director: Anthony and Joe Russo – $96 million
2. Noah – Darren Aronofsky – $17 million
3. Divergent – Neil Burger – $13 million
4. God’s Not Dead – Harold Cronk – $7.7 million
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson – $6.3 million

UK:

1. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – £2.9 million
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – £2.8 million
3. Noah – Darren Aronkofsky – £2.5 million
4. Divergent – Neil Burger – £1.8 million
5. Muppets Most Wanted – James Bobin – £0.9 million

The Winter Soldier has done excellently in the US, a cut above Thor: The Dark World’s $86 million, while Noah is quickly surpassing financial expectations. Quirky comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel made a surprise entry at fifth place and God’s Not Dead, despite possessing no famous stars and no critical acclaim, has now taken eighteen times its small budget at the box-office. Rio 2 has taken the UK top spot while Noah makes a decent debut. Divergent however has fallen surprisingly flat of its expectations. This week, I’ve scored a solid 6/10, taking my running total to 110/230.

US:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo
2. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha
3. Noah – Darren Aronofsky
4. Draft Day – Ivan Reitman
5. Divergent – Neil Burger

UK:

1. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo
3. The Raid 2 – Gareth Evans
4. Noah – Darren Aronofsky
5. The Quiet Ones – John Pogue

Anne Hathaway in Rio 2, this week’s US number one.

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

Weekend box-office – 5th to 11th of April 2014 – can Noah flood Divergent away?

Religion focused films seemed to have taken a hold on the recent US box office, despite having no genuine stars in them IE God’s Not Dead and Son of God. Now, genesis story Noah has arrived to take the weekend by storm, with heavy biblical themes, huge star quality and immense directing talent. Last week, we predicted that it’d shove aside the recent strong entries Divergent and Muppets Most Wanted. Meanwhile, The Winter Soldier’s UK debut could tell if the sequel could live up to the financial success of other recent Marvel work.

US:

1. Noah – Director: Darren Aronofsky – $44 million
2. Divergent – Neil Burger – $26.5 million
3. Muppets Most Wanted – James Bobin – $11.4 million
4. Mr Peabody and Sherman – Rob Minkoff – $9.5 million
5. God’s Not Dead – Harold Cronk – $9 million

UK:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – £6 million
2. Muppets Most Wanted – James Bobin – £2.2 million
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson – £0.8 million
4. Non-Stop – Juanne Collet Serra – £0.4 million
5. Need for Speed – Scott Waugh – £0.3 million

Noah has, unsurprisingly, made a deep impression into the box office in the States but the more interesting events are in the UK. A low taking week all-in-all but Captain America seem to have done well. Still, it’s way off from Thor: The Dark World’s initial takings of £8.8 million but the latter has Tom Hiddleston, a hugely popular presence in the UK, in a lead role while the latter, being the most patriotic of all superheroes, should dominate more in the US. Muppets Most Wanted performed well against competition but the previous films total UK earnings were near £30 million – a figure this film can’t hope to achieve. This week’s score of 6/10 takes our running total up to 104/220.

US:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo
2. Noah – Darren Aronofsky
3. Divergent – Neil Burger
4. Muppets Most Wanted – James Bobin
5. Mr Peabody and Sherman – Rob Minkoff

UK:

1. Divergent – Neil Burger
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo
3. Noah – Darren Aronofsky
4. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha
5. Muppets Most Wanted – James Bobin

Sebastian Stan in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, this week’s UK box-office number one.

Russell Crowe in Noah, this week’s US box-office number one.