Well, there is no doubt Neighbors will be taking the #1 spot this weekend after an estimated $19.6 million Friday, crushing The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which fell 72% compared to last Friday, taking in an estimated $10.1 million. The dip is on par with drops from other superhero movies, including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but when you consider the $250 million budget (and $180 million spent on marketing) you have to begin to wonder why they don’t spend a couple of those millions investing in better screenwriting.
Of course, the film will be crossing $500 million worldwide, but given the future prospects Sony has for this franchise, that number just isn’t big enough. Spider-Man will continue, but perhaps a new motto over at Sony should be, “Make a Better Movie.”
A couple of other new films also did very poor business with Moms’ Night Out earning an estimated $1.25 million from 1,044 theaters and Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return looking at one of the worst openings of all=time for a film playing on over 2,500 theaters, bringing in only $980,000 on Friday. Ouch!
I’ll be back tomorrow with a complete weekend wrap-up.
