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.

First trailers for Tracks and Sean Bean’s Enemy of Man

Tracks is a new sprawling epic drama from The Painted Veil’s director John Curran and is already picking up major critical acclaim prior to its public release. The very first trailer offers a first look at the film which pitches Mia Wasikowska (Stoker, The Kids Are All Right, Alice in Wonderland) as an Australian adventurer Robyn Davidson who sets out on an impossible trek across the vast desert accompanied only by her faithful camels and dog, although she meets National Geographic photographer Rick Smolan (Adam Driver) along the way. The film could be excellent as it conveys and incredible true story but it may get overwhelmed by its schmultz.

However, no over-sentimentality can be found in this new potential adaptation. A major Kickstarter, an online service which allows users to donate to the budget of exciting but undeveloped projects (some major, some amateurs trying to release their first picture), project has been unveiled with a mood trailer. The film in question is Enemy of Man, a bleak adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and debut director Vincent Regan has pulled together a very impressive ensemble; Sean Bean (The Lord of the Rings, Goldeneye), Rupert Grint (Harry Potter), Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), Charlotte Gainsburg (Melancholia), James D’Arcy (Cloud Atlas) and Jason Flemyng (X-Men: First Class) will hopefully lead the cast. If you’re excited about this as we are, then head over to Kickstarter to find out more.

Enemy of Man – 2015?

Tracks – April 25th