Friday Report: 'Godzilla' Roars, Scores Biggest Opening Day of 2014
Godzilla ruled the box office on Friday with a stunning $38.5 million. Meanwhile, Neighbors and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 fell hard, while Million Dollar Arm failed to find the strike zone.

Playing at over 3,950 theaters, Godzilla's $38.5 million opening day is the biggest of the year ahead of comic book sequels Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($36.9 million) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($35.2 million). It's also way above World War Z ($25.2 million), which was viewed as the most direct comparable title.

Word-of-mouth on Godzilla is decidedly mixed: it earned a so-so "B+" CinemaScore on Friday, and anecdotal evidence suggests that the movie's detractors are quite vocal. Still, it's a safe bet that Godzilla scores the biggest opening weekend of the year ahead of Captain America ($95 million).

Neighbors took second place with $8.4 million. That's a steep 57 percent drop, which makes sense given the younger audience and mixed word-of-mouth. For the weekend, the Seth Rogen comedy should earn roughly $26 million.

Facing tough competition from Godzilla, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 plummeted 55 percent to $4.5 million. For the weekend, the web-slinger should add around $16 million. Through 15 days, the sequel to the reboot has grossed nearly $160 million.

Million Dollar Arm had a soft start yesterday. The baseball drama opened to just $3.46 million, which is on par with Draft Day's $3.6 million and around half of Moneyball's $6.7 million. For the weekend, the movie should wind up around $10 million.

The Other Woman rounded out the Top Five with $2.05 million. Through 22 days, the Cameron Diaz comedy has earned $67.4 million.

Weekend Projections

1. Godzilla - $98 million

2. Neighbors - $26 million

3. Spider-Man - $16 million

4. Million Dollar Arm - $10 million

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Related Chart:

Grosses for Friday, May 16, 2014