HOLLYWOOD – With so many new releases at the multiplex this past weekend, so many expected the fight for the box-office to be a duel to the finish, but it was last week’s releases that came out on top. The animated flick “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” took the top spot earning more than $21 million, in just two weeks the movie has earned more than $63 million domestically. “300: Rise of an Empire” claimed the number two spot with more than $19 million bringing its two week total to more than $78 million in the U.S. alone.
The Aaron Paul action-thriller “Need For Speed” which was expected to claim the top spotted faltered, only taking in a little over $17 million to take the #3 spot. The racing-car flick was expected to earn $25-$30 million at the box-office this weekend, but underperformed. Claiming the #4 spot was the Liam Neeson thriller “Non-Stop” which added another $10 million to its box-office numbers, bringing its total close to the $70 million mark.
Rounding out the top five was “Tyler Perry’s The Single Mom’s Club’ which bombed at the box-office. The female-driven dramedy only opened to a disappointing $8.3 million in more than 3,000 theaters. The picture which has been heavily promoted on TV failed to draw in bigger numbers at the multiplex. This weekend is sure to rock the box-office with the debut of “Divergent” based on the popular novel series and stars Shailene Woodley and Kate Winslet. The picture is expecting to debut big numbers, but considering its resemblance to “The Hunger Games” there’s no telling how big of a debut “Divergent” could actually have.
