Box Office Recap: ‘Divergent’ Scores $56 Million Debut

Lionsgate-Summit’s latest film “Divergent” ruled the box office this weekend, smashing competitors “Muppets Most Wanted” and “God’s Not Dead.” The sci-fi adventure flick, directed by Neil Burger and starring Shailene Woodley, earned a whopping $56-million its opening weekend from 3,936 theaters. “This is a great start to another franchise,” said Richard Fay, president of domestic distribution at Lionsgate.

While Divergent’s opening looks promising standing alone, when compared to its predecessors, other big hit film franchises like “Twilight” and “Hunger Games,” there is obviously work to be done for the $85 million budget movie. The first “Twilight” only cost $37 million to make, but brought in $69.6 million on its opening weekend. The first “The Hunger Games” cost over $78 million to make and brought in $152.5 million on its opening weekend. “Divergent” needs to show huge box office growth to match those numbers.

“Divergent,” which is based largely on Veronica Roth’s best-selling series, tells the story of a young woman fighting for freedom and survival in a dystopian society. A sequel to the Neil Burger-directed movie, titled “Insurgent,” is scheduled to begin filming in May and is expected to open in theaters on March 20, 2015. We can also expect a third film, titled “Allegient.”

In second place at the box office was Disney’s “Muppets Most Wanted,” which trailed far behind the successful “Divergent,” taking in only $16.5 million its opening weekend. Twentieth Century Fox’s “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” followed in third place, earning an estimated $11.7 million its third weekend, and Warner Bros’ “300: Rise of an Empire” finished in fourth place, earning $8.6 million.

Freestyle Releasing’s faith-based film “God’s Not Dead,” came in at No. 5, managing $8.5 million on just 780 screens. The movie, which features Kevin Sorbo, Dean Cain, Willie and Korie Robertson from the “Duck Dynasty” television show as themselves, and the popular Christian rock group Newsboys, is about a college student defending his beliefs against a professor.