Box office: 'Allegiant' flounders with only $29.1M
Moviegoers didn't pledge their allegiance to the latest Divergent installment.
Allegiant, the third movie in the young-adult franchise, managed only $29.1 million its first weekend, according to studio estimates from comScore. That's just over half the opening takes of the series' Divergent ($54.6 million) in 2014 and last year's Insurgent ($52.3 million), both of which also opened in March.
Shailene Woodley and Theo James lead the dystopian adventure/romance, which is adapted from the third book in Veronica Roth's Divergent series. Octavia Spencer, Jeff Daniels and Naomi Watts joined the franchise ranks for Allegiant, although added star power wasn't enough to draw in crowds.
'Allegiant' no more? The state of YA at the movies isn't great
"Younger audiences change their mind like the weather and it's very hard to gauge interest," says comScore senior box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "I can't fault the release date or the marketing plan — they followed exactly what was successful the past couple years. It may just be the conditions of the marketplace," with other hit films such as Deadpool and 10 Cloverfield Lane competing for teen and young-adult moviegoers.
The fourth and final movie, Ascendant, is scheduled for release in June 2017, which could bode well for a stronger start. "It's a different type of month for its box-office potential," Dergarabedian adds. "It being the last one also carries a bit of cachet" and could drum up additional interest.
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In light of Allegiant's second-place finish, Zootopia ruled the jungle with No. 1 and $38 million, bringing its North American tally to $201.8 million in just 17 days. Disney's animated animal comedy has ruled the box office for three weeks straight, netting a combined international haul of $591.7 million.
"It's just been a juggernaut — I don't know that anyone thought it'd do this well," Dergarabedian says. "With few other choices for that family audience since Kung Fu Panda 3, it's benefiting from a perfect release date and great word-of-mouth."
Rounding out the top five, Miracles from Heaven came in third with a divine $15 million for the weekend and $18.6 million since its Wednesday opening. The Christian drama is adapted from Christy Beam's memoir of the same name and stars Jennifer Garner as a mother whose young daughter is cured from a chronic illness after a near-death experience.
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The J.J. Abrams-produced mystery 10 Cloverfield Lane continued to impress with No. 4 and $12.5 million ($45.2 million in two weeks), while R-rated superhero smash Deadpool took fifth place and $8 million ($341.9 million total).
Final figures are expected Monday.