Box Office

From ew, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B+ Cinema Score) came out of the gates swinging and earned an estimated $92 million over the weekend. Playing in 4,324 locations, this is a solid domestic debut for the Sony sequel starring Andrew Garfield as the nimble superhero, which boasted a $21K per-theater average. IMAX showings accounted for $9.3 million of the opening cume from 353 screens.

Overall, reviews have been mixed for the Marc Webb reboot (54 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), especially when compared with Sam Raimi’s second entry in the Spideyverse (94 percent). But, fans don’t seem to mind. Opening weekend audiences gave the film a B+ Cinema Score overall and an A- from the under-25 crowd. Families indeed turned out to see how Peter Parker would fare against all those villains, making up 33 percent of the audience. According to Friday exit sampling of general moviegoers, 61 percent of the audience was male and about 51 percent was under 25.

Many weekend projections (including our own) surmised that the pic would beat, or match, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2014′s highest opener to date ($95 million in early April) but, according to initial estimates, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Still, Sony is feeling good. Internationally, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 grossed an estimated $116 million in its third weekend, bringing the overseas total to a mighty $277 million.

“It’s a terrific start here in the U.S. and the world result is no less than stunning,” says Sony’s worldwide distribution exec Rory Bruer. “We had a record-breaking opening in India ($6.5 million, the best-ever for a Hollywood title) and Brazil ($10.5 million, or 76 percent higher than the first). We had fantastic results in France ($10.6 million) and we had a huge day in China ($10.4 million on Sunday). It’s popping and working everywhere in the world. We’re absolutely on track to not only meet our goals but to exceed them.”

GET EW ON YOUR TABLET: Subscribe today and get instant access!

In second place, Fox’s revenge rom-com The Other Woman took in $14.2 million in week two. Starring Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, and Sports Illustrated babe Kate Upton as three women who have been cheated on by the same man (Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), the Nick Cassavetes-directed pic fills a much-needed programming gap (it’s a comedy and female-led) and it’s showing at the box office. Marketing hasn’t pushed the potential appeal to male audiences, so don’t expect to see Bridesmaids numbers here. But, Cameron Diaz could have an incredibly strong 2014 on her hands with Sex Tape (July 25) and the Will Gluck-directed Annie remake (Dec. 19).

Heaven Is for Real snagged the third place spot in its third weekend with an estimated $8.7 million. That’s only a 39 percent drop. The $12 million Christian pic starring Gregg Kinnear as a pastor whose son claims to have visited heaven after surviving a near-death experience has earned about $65.6 million so far, beating this year’s Son of Godand surpassing the surprise hit God’s Not Dead, which is still playing in theaters.

In fourth place, Disney and Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier  fell 52 percent with an estimated $7.8 million after five weekends in theaters, bringing its domestic cume to $237.1 million and its international take to a whopping $679.8 million, 83 percent above the first film. Cap is running circles around 2013′s Thor: The Dark World, which earned a total of $206 million domestically ($449 million global) thanks in no small part to the $115 million from China.

Finally, in fifth place, Rio 2 passed the $100 million mark this weekend with an estimated $7.6 million in its fourth weekend in theaters. The $103 million Fox-distrubuted pic, featuring the voices of Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg, is still trailing a bit behind the original Rio, which had earned $115 million by this time in 2011.

Here’s the top five:

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 — $92 million (domestic total: $92 million)

2. The Other Woman — $14.2 million (domestic total: $47.35 million)

3. Heaven Is for Real — $8.7 million (domestic total: $65.6 million)

4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier — $7.8 million (domestic total: $237.1 million)

5. Rio 2  — $7.6 million (domestic total: $106.5 million)

In the speciality box office world, Amma Asante’s Belle opened in four theaters to $104K. Starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the illegitimate mixed-race daughter of a British naval officer, Belle tells the story of her aristocratic upbringing and political awakening in 18th century England. The Fox Searchlight pic had the best per-theater average ($26K) of any of the films released this weekend. 

Meanwhile, Focus Feature’s Walk of Shame flopped with the day-and-date release, taking in only $38K. Playing in 50 locations, the Elizabeth Banks comedy about a woman who loses everything after a one night stand and must trek across L.A. the next morning to make an interview for her dream job had a terrible $745 per-theater average. The combination of VOD availability and dismal reviews worked against this one. In his D review, Joe McGovern called it “a lumpy and laughless farce from writer-director Steven Brill (Little Nicky), a man who never told a joke he couldn’t ruin.”