March Reaches $800 Million, Falls Short of 2012 Record
Led by 300: Rise of An Empire and Divergent, the domestic box office totaled $801 million in March 2014.
That's down three percent year-to-year, and off 15 percent from 2012's record $943 million.
For the first quarter of 2014, domestic box office totaled $2.4 billion. That's up five percent from 2013, but down from 2012, 2010 and 2009.
300: Rise of an Empire opened on the first weekend of March, and won the month with $101.4 million. That's nowhere close to its predecessor, which had earned $181 million through the same point (and much more when adjusting for ticket price changes). Still, it's doing strong business overseas, and should ultimately be a success for Warner Bros.
In second place, young-adult adaptation Divergent earned just over $96 million in its first 11 days. That's not on par with Twilight or The Hunger Games, but is strong enough that Summit is going to move forward aggressively with their sequel plans.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman wasn't far behind with $95.1 million. That's on the low end for DreamWorks Animation movies, but Peabody is at least going to wind up ahead of recent bombs Rise of the Guardians ($103 million) and Turbo ($83 million).
Two February holdovers rounded out the Top Five. Liam Neeson's Non-Stop has earned $85.4 million so far; the movie is going to fall just short of $100 million, but is still a big hit. Meanwhile, The LEGO Movie added $46.8 million, which brought its total to an awesome $248 million.
Other winners in March included Noah ($46.8 million in four days), The Grand Budapest Hotel ($24.9 million) and God's Not Dead ($22.5 million).
As always, a handful of movies missed the mark. Need for Speed fell victim to the video game curse, and through 18 days had only earned $38 million in the U.S. (though it has earned nearly $60 million in China). Muppets Most Wanted got off to a much slower start than its predecessor, though it held well enough in its second weekend to guarantee a final tally north of $50 million.
March had two serious bombs. First, Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club earned just $15.1 million, and will ultimately close with less than what most of Perry's movies earn in their first three days. Meanwhile, Sabotage ended the month with star Arnold Schwarzenegger's worst debut in nearly three decades.
Through the end of March, year-to-date box office is up five percent from last year. The biggest titles so far are The LEGO Movie ($248.5 million), 2013 holdover Frozen ($135.3 million) and comedy hit Ride Along ($133.7 million).
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo, and follow author Ray Subers at @raysubers.
Related Stories
• 'LEGO' Leads Not-So-Awesome February
• 'Lone Survivor' Leads Best January in Four Years
• Strong November Box Office Falls Just Short of Record
• Holiday 2013 Forecast
• 'Gravity' Dominates Disappointing October
• 'Insidious' Leads Average September
• 'Despicable' Drives July to Second-Highest Monthly Gross Ever
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Related Charts
• March Calendar Grosses
• 2014 Grosses (2014-only releases)
• Year-to-Date Comparison
That's down three percent year-to-year, and off 15 percent from 2012's record $943 million.
For the first quarter of 2014, domestic box office totaled $2.4 billion. That's up five percent from 2013, but down from 2012, 2010 and 2009.
300: Rise of an Empire opened on the first weekend of March, and won the month with $101.4 million. That's nowhere close to its predecessor, which had earned $181 million through the same point (and much more when adjusting for ticket price changes). Still, it's doing strong business overseas, and should ultimately be a success for Warner Bros.
In second place, young-adult adaptation Divergent earned just over $96 million in its first 11 days. That's not on par with Twilight or The Hunger Games, but is strong enough that Summit is going to move forward aggressively with their sequel plans.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman wasn't far behind with $95.1 million. That's on the low end for DreamWorks Animation movies, but Peabody is at least going to wind up ahead of recent bombs Rise of the Guardians ($103 million) and Turbo ($83 million).
Two February holdovers rounded out the Top Five. Liam Neeson's Non-Stop has earned $85.4 million so far; the movie is going to fall just short of $100 million, but is still a big hit. Meanwhile, The LEGO Movie added $46.8 million, which brought its total to an awesome $248 million.
Other winners in March included Noah ($46.8 million in four days), The Grand Budapest Hotel ($24.9 million) and God's Not Dead ($22.5 million).
As always, a handful of movies missed the mark. Need for Speed fell victim to the video game curse, and through 18 days had only earned $38 million in the U.S. (though it has earned nearly $60 million in China). Muppets Most Wanted got off to a much slower start than its predecessor, though it held well enough in its second weekend to guarantee a final tally north of $50 million.
March had two serious bombs. First, Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club earned just $15.1 million, and will ultimately close with less than what most of Perry's movies earn in their first three days. Meanwhile, Sabotage ended the month with star Arnold Schwarzenegger's worst debut in nearly three decades.
Through the end of March, year-to-date box office is up five percent from last year. The biggest titles so far are The LEGO Movie ($248.5 million), 2013 holdover Frozen ($135.3 million) and comedy hit Ride Along ($133.7 million).
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo, and follow author Ray Subers at @raysubers.
Related Stories
• 'LEGO' Leads Not-So-Awesome February
• 'Lone Survivor' Leads Best January in Four Years
• Strong November Box Office Falls Just Short of Record
• Holiday 2013 Forecast
• 'Gravity' Dominates Disappointing October
• 'Insidious' Leads Average September
• 'Despicable' Drives July to Second-Highest Monthly Gross Ever
• 'Man of Steel,' 'Monsters U' Lead Record-Setting June
• May Kicks Off Summer 2013 With Record Grosses
Related Charts
• March Calendar Grosses
• 2014 Grosses (2014-only releases)
• Year-to-Date Comparison
