box office
YOUR WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: They don’t call him King of the Monsters for nothin’. Powered by a teaser campaign that showed more of co-star Bryan Cranston than of the Japanese beast, Godzilla stomped into first place in his box-office bow, scaring up more than $93m—and the second-biggest opening of 2014 (after Captain America: The Winter Soldier). The monster-disaster flick also made $103m overseas. The Top 5’s other new release featuring the star of an acclaimed AMC series, Disney’s John Hamm baseball vehicle Million Dollar Arm, struck out with just $10.5m.
- Godzilla Warner Bros. $93.2m 3,952/$23,584 avg. (debut)
- Neighbors Universal $25.9m (-47%) 3,311/$7,850 avg. (week 2)
- Amazing Spider-Man 2 Sony $16.8m (-53%) 3,991/$4,209 avg. (week 3)
- Million Dollar Arm Buena Vista $10.5m 3,019/$3,482 avg. (debut)
- The Other Woman Fox $6.3m (-34%) 3,054/$2,063 avg. (week 4)
Like much of America, we caught the big lizard’s return; the first half is indeed slow, but the thing really picks up a head of steam—and the monsters (yes, there are several) are jaw-dropping. (5/19a)
