By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Seth Rogen and Zac Efron have bested the web-slinger at the box office.
Rogen and Efron's family-versus-fraternity comedy "Neighbors," was the top draw for moviegoers this weekend, unseating last week's champ, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2."
The R-rated "Neighbors" debuted with $51 million in ticket sales, pushing Spidey to second place with $37 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"Sustaining a No. 1 ranking is generally tougher in the summer than any other time of year," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. "You don't expect a comedy to be able to unseat an epic blockbuster, but historically it happens more than you think."
R-rated comedies have traditionally found success in the summer movie season: Think "Bridesmaids," ''The Hangover," 2012's "Ted" and last year's "The Heat."
"Neighbors" stars Rogen and Rose Byrne as new parents finding their footing in the suburbs when a fraternity led by Efron moves in next door. Filled with goofball and gross-out gags balanced with a dash of heart, the comedy boasts some epic party scenes and ample shirtless Efron.
The Universal release earned a "fresh" rating from review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com, with 74 percent of film critics responding favorably to the film. Conversely, Sony's "Amazing Spider-Man 2" earned a "rotten" rating of 54 percent.
Spidey is still a major success, with more than $550 million in worldwide ticket sales so far.
"Spider-Man has nothing to worry about," Dergarabedian said.
Another comedy, the Cameron Diaz-Leslie Mann revenge romp "The Other Woman" held onto third place in its third week of release, adding $9 million to its take. "Heaven Is for Real" and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" round out the top five.
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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. "Neighbors," $51 million ($34.4 million international).
2. "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," $37.2 million ($69.5 million international).
3. "The Other Woman," $9.25 million ($13.1 million international).
4. "Heaven Is for Real," $7 million.
5. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," $5.6 million ($3.5 million international).
6. "Rio 2," $5.1 million ($14.1 million international).
7. "Moms' Night Out," $4.2 million.
8. "Legends of Oz," $3.7 million.
9. "Divergent," $1.7 million ($3 million international).
10. "Brick Mansions," 1.3 million.
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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:
1. "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," $69.5 million.
2. "Neighbors," $34.4 million.
3. "Rio 2," $14.1 million.
4. "The Other Woman," $13.1 million.
5. "Qu'est ce qu'on a fait au Bon Dieu?!" $10 million.
6. "Frozen," $7.1 million.
7. "My Old Classmate," $6 million.
8. "The Great Hypnotist," $5.2 million.
9. "The Fatal Encounter," $5 million.
10. "The Target," $4.7 million.
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More