The third movie in the young-adult franchise, The Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1, flopped with only $29.1 million in its debut weekend.
The latest film scored the lowest opening in the Lionsgate series, with 2014’s Divergent debuting with $54.6 million and last year’s The Divergent Series: Insurgent with $52.3 million; both films opened in March.
Shailene Woodley and Theo James reunite in the dystopian adventure, which centers on Tris and Four as they escape beyond the wall that encircles Chicago to finally discover the shocking truth of what lies behind it. Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Jeff Daniels, Ansel Elgort and Miles Teller also star. Audience members, who were 65 percent female and 50 percent under the age of 25, gave the film a B CinemaScore (the first two earned an A and an A-minus), while critics gave it a dreary 10 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Younger audiences change their mind like the weather and it’s very hard to gauge interest,” says comScore senior box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “I can’t fault the release date or the marketing plan — they followed exactly what was successful the past couple years. It may just be the conditions of the marketplace.”
With Allegiant finishing in second place, Zootopia held the top spot at the box office for the third weekend in a row with another $38 million, bringing its domestic tally to $201.8 million in just 17 days.
“It’s just been a juggernaut — I don’t know that anyone thought it’d do this well,” Dergarabedian says. “With few other choices for that family audience since Kung Fu Panda 3, it’s benefiting from a perfect release date and great word-of-mouth.”
In third place is newcomer Sony’s Miracles From Heaven with $15 million for the weekend and $18.6 million since its Wednesday debut. The faith-based drama, starring Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah, is adapted from Christy Beam’s memoir that tells the story of a young daughter who is cured from a chronic illness after a near-death experience. The film received a 54 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and an A-plus CinemaScore from moviegoers.
“This is a big win for us, and the movie will continue to expand through and beyond Easter weekend,” said Sony distribution chief Rory Bruer. “You could see how the film kept growing, and we’re playing beyond just Christian audiences.”
Rounding out the fourth and fifth spot is J.J. Abrams-produced mystery 10 Cloverfield Lane and R-rated superhero flick Deadpool with $12.5 million ($45.2 million domestic total) and $8 million ($340.9 million domestic total), respectively.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: March 18-20
- Zootopia — $38 million
- Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1 — $29.1 million
- Miracles From Heaven — $15 million
- 10 Cloverfield Lane — $12.5 million
- Deadpool — $8 million
- London Has Fallen — $6.9 million
- Whiskey Tango Foxtrot — $2.81 million
- The Perfect Match — $1.9 million
- The Brothers Grimsby— $1.4 million
- Revenant — $1.23 million
