Universal’s opening of “Neighbors” has a slight edge on Sony’s second weekend of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” with the raunchy comedy heading for as much as $45 million at the U.S. box office.
Friday afternoon estimates showed “Neighbors” coming in with $16 million to $18 million on its first day — including $2.56 million from Thursday latenight shows.
That would land “Neighbors” between $41 million to $45 million for the three-day Mother’s Day weekend — enough to finish the weekend ahead of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” which was tracking with a Friday in the $11 million to $12 million range, leading to a three-day total of around $40 million.
The R-rated “Neighbors” stars Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as new parents at odds with the fraternity that moves in next door, headed by a comically obnoxious leader played by Zac Efron.
It appears that “Neighbors” will more than double the opening of Rogen’s raunchy comedy “This Is the End,” which opened with a $20.7 million weekend last June on its way to an impressive domestic cume of $101 million.
“Neighbors” has received relatively strong responses from critics with a 74% “fresh rating on the Rotten Tomatoes aggregator site.
Advanced ticket sales for “Neighbors” on Fandango have been highest for an R-rated comedy since Universal’s 2012 hit “Ted,” which opened in the U.S. with $54 million and went on to gross $218 million domestically and $549 million worldwide.
“Neighbors” expands to 3,279 theaters Friday following a marketing campaign emphasizing the frat-versus-family plotline. Universal has been gaining traction for “Neighbors” since premiering the movie at South by Southwest in March.
“The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ comes into the weekend with $450 million in worldwide grosses — about three-quarters of that from outside the U.S., where the tentpoles has taken in $110 million in its first seven days.
A $40 million weekend for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ would represent a decline of 56% from its $92 million opening.
I'm sorry but audiences are definitely going in to watch this because of Seth Rogen... Not Zac Efron. He just doesn't have the pulling power his people think he does.
I'm sorry but audiences are definitely going in to watch this because of Seth Rogen... Not Zac Efron. He just doesn't have the pulling power his people think he does.
THIS! Efron can't open a movie to save his life by himself, and That Awkward Moment was example of that. 17 Again was just a fluke.
Universal reports that Neighbors took in a hefty $19.6 million on Friday, putting it on a course for a projected weekend of $50 million. The opening day figure tops that of The Hangover ($16.7 million, onward to a $45 million weekend) and fell just shy of Ted ($20.6 million Friday, $54.4 million weekend).
With a healthy 80 percent Flixster score as of Saturday morning, word of mouth is off to a strong start as Universal's 2014 winning streak continues. Look for Neighbors to play strongly in the days and weeks ahead.
Sony reports The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was down 71 percent from its opening day to $10.1 million yesterday. That sets the sequel on course for a projected sophomore frame of $37 million. The severe drop-off is indicative of mixed word of mouth, as well as Neighbors moving in on Spidey's young adult audience.
gonna see it tomorrow.
It's gonna beat Hangover 3's opening ki