Weekend Box Office Report: May 9-11, 2014

Neighbors beat Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!

The famous web-slinging hero and his villainous adversaries got shoved aside this weekend for a different kind of showdown as NEIGHBORS opened at #1 with $51 million!

The R-rated comedy was easily the biggest opening for star Seth Rogen, whose previous live-action highs were THE GREEN HORNET ($33.5 million) and KNOCKED UP ($30.6 mllion). NEIGHBORS, also starring Rose Byrne and Zac Efron, has already racked up an additional $34 million overseas — on a reported budget less than $20 million. 

Critics were mostly up for the raunchy frat vs. family antics (74% on Rotten Tomatoes), but paying crowds gave it a middling 'B' CinemaScore, which implies NEIGHBORS may not have the buzz to carry it to THE HANGOVER or TED levels of successful summer longevity. And the comedy will have to stand its ground against some seriously spectacle-filled blockbusters in the coming weeks.

As for the wall-crawler, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 only got to enjoy a single weekend at the top of the chart, slipping to second place with $37.2 million. Whether it's a case of audience superhero fatigue or just some less-than-amazing word of mouth, that's a knock of nearly 60% from its opening.

The Spidey sequel does have a 10-day total of almost $150 million, plus it's already topped another $400 million from international crowds. But its chances of hitting the magic billion-dollar mark now seem remote, and it may even struggle to reach THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN's $262 million domestic and $752 million global totals.

Coming in third was the female-fronted comedy THE OTHER WOMAN with $9.2 million, followed by the faith-based drama HEAVEN IS FOR REAL with $7 million and a total of $75.2 million after a month in release.

After six weeks, Marvel's patriot is still polishing his shield in the top half of the chart as CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER placed fifth with $5.6 million. RIO 2 was perched right below with $5.1 million, and with the possibility of soaring past the first RIO's $484 million worldwide total. 

They were followed by a pair of new releases (has anyone even seen advertising for these?), the low-budget comedy MOM'S NIGHT OUT with $4.2 million, and the animated LEGENDS OF OZ: DOROTHY'S RETURN with $3.7 million. DIVERGENT (holding in the Top 10 for two months now) and BRICK MANSIONS sat at the bottom.

Outside the chart, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL and GOD'S NOT DEAD left the list (again) along with THE QUIET ONES. In limited release, the Jon Favreau food comedy CHEF got a decent start with a $34k per-screen average, while the James Franco drama PALO ALTO had an okay $20k per-screen.

Next weekend brings back the city-stomping king of the monsters in GODZILLA, while Jon Hamm visits India to find baseball players in MILLION DOLLAR ARM.

What do you think will be the highest-grossing comedy of the summer? VOTE HERE!