Narrowly finishes ahead of "Rio 2"
By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --"Captain America" continued to flex its Marvel muscle at the global box office, as "The Winter Soldier" took in $41.4 million domestically and $60.6 million overseas.
The strong second-week performance for the Walt Disney release in North America was enough to narrowly edge 20th Century Fox's "Rio 2" in a springtime battle of sequels. The animated Amazon jungle tale "Rio 2" debuted with $39 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, almost exactly the opening weekend total of the 2011 Oscar-nominated original.
But "Captain America" has grown considerably in stature since its 2011 original, "The First Avenger." With a global cumulative total of nearly $477 million, "The Winter Soldier" has (in two weeks domestically, three weeks internationally) easily surpassed the $370 million total of "The First Avenger."
For a superhero whose costume is draped with the U.S. flag, Captain America (played by Chris Evans) has proven particularly popular abroad. The international appeal of such a traditionally patriot figure was once doubted.
"The traditional rules just don't apply anymore. It's really about that Marvel brand," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. "'Captain America' can play in Peoria just as well as Hong Kong."
"Rio 2," with a voice cast including Anna Kendrick and Jessie Eisenberg, also played well internationally. In its second week of release overseas, it made $62.5 million.
Two other new releases opened in a distant third and fourth place.
The low-budget supernatural horror film "Oculus" took in $12 million for Relativity Media.
The football drama "Draft Day," starring Kevin Costner and directed by Ivan Reitman, debuted weakly with $9.8 million. Made with the cooperation of the National Football League, the Lionsgate release is the second movie this year, along with the thriller "3 Days to Kill," to attempt to restore the 59-year-old Costner to leading man status.
The overall box office for the year is up more than 7 percent over 2013's record box-office haul. The month of April has been propelled especially by the summer-style release of "The Winter Soldier" and a number of less likely successes.
With $39.5 million domestically, the Wes Anderson caper "The Grand Budapest Hotel" has performed exceptionally in a gradual release by Fox Searchlight. The independently released Christian film "God's Not Dead," from Freestyle Releasing, has made a whopping $40.7 million in four weeks.
Just holding in the top five was Lionsgate's teen sci-fi franchise-starter "Divergent," which added $7.5 million in its fourth week to bring its cumulative total to $124.9 million. Lionsgate announced Friday that the third installment in the series (a sequel for 2015 is already in the works) will be split into two releases. The final book in Veronica Roth's young-adult trilogy, "Allegiant," will be made into two installments, one to open in March 2016, the other in March 2017.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.
1."Captain America: The Winter Soldier," $41.4 million ($60.6 million international).
2."Rio 2," $39 million ($62.3 million international).
3."Oculus," $12 million ($1.3 million international).
4."Draft Day," $9.8 million.
5."Divergent," $7.5 million ($23.2 million international).
6."Noah," $7.5 million ($36.2 million international).
7."God's Not Dead," $5.5 million.
8."The Grand Budapest Hotel," $4.1 million ($7.2 million international).
9."Muppets Most Wanted," $2.2 million ($2.2 million international).
10."Mr. Peabody and Sherman," $1.8 million ($3.8 million international).
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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. "Rio 2," $62.3 million.
2. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," $60.6 million.
3. "Noah," $36.2 million.
4. "Divergent," $23.2 million.
5. "The Lego Movie," $9.5 million.
6. "Frozen," $8 million.
7. "The Grand Budapest Hotel," $7.2 million.
8. "Ocho apellidos vascos," $5.4 million.
9. "Mr. Peabody and Sherman," $3.8 million.
10. (tie) "The Legend of Hercules," $3.5 million.
10. (tie) "Broken," $3.5 million.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More