Even last week's champ Disney's fantasy "Maleficent" starring Angelina Jolie was no match for the YA love story--falling to #2
Pamela McClintock of THR:
Younger females proved their might at the North American box office this weekend, delivering a stellar $48.2 million opening for YA romance The Fault in Our Stars, starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as two young lovers who meet in a cancer support group.
The adaptation of John Green's wildly popular book saw a steep 52 percent drop from Friday to Saturday, not a surprise considering that many fans turned out early. The movie, earning an A CinemaScore, is a victory for Fox 2000, with Fault already making back its $12 million budget four times over. It also underscores Woodley's rising star status.
Fault easily beat Tom Cruise's big-budget sci-fi epic Edge of Tomorrow, which opened to a problematic $29.1 million despite stellar reviews. The Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow title cost at least $178 million to make, meaning it needed to do bigger business.
Males made up the majority of Edge's audience (61 percent). Audiences seemed to like the film less than critics, giving it a B+ CinemaScore.
Fault in Our Stars, earning an A CinemaScore, also had no trouble overtaking Disney holdover Maleficent, likewise a female property (heading into the weekend, most thought the race would be closer between Edge and the Angelina Jolie live-action fairy tale).
Still, Maleficent had plenty to boast about as its global earnings rose to $335.5 million -- the third-best gross for a live-action film starring Jolie behind Mr & Mrs Smith ($478 million) and Wanted ($342 million), which it will pass shortly.
Maleficent placed No. 2 domestically, falling 52 percent in its second weekend (notably less than other recent tentpoles) to $33.5 million for a domestic total of $127.4 million. Overseas, the movie took in a $59.7 million from 52 markets for an international cume of $208.1 million. Maleficent has yet to open in China and Japan.
While Maleficent is playing to females of all ages, as well as to families, Fault's audience was much more targeted, although it still had to compete with Jolie's movie. Combined, the two films took in $81.6 million, "an extraordinary showing," said Fox distribution chief Chris Aronson.
Females made up roughly 82 percent of Fault's audience, an even bigger percentage than the first Twilight (75 percent). To boot, 79 percent of the audience was under the age of 25, an almost unheard of ratio (that compares to 55 percent for the first Twilight).
"We knew we had the John Greene fans engaged, and I think the question how long will it take to crossover to the general all-audience. I think there's a very good chance," said Aronson.
Fault's ardent fan base explains why the movie earned 54 percent of its total gross on Friday to become one of the most front-loaded titles of all time, along with Hannah Montana: The Movie and the Twilight films.
Josh Boone directed The Fault in Our Stars from an adapted script by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. The movie also stars Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Nat Wolff and Willem Dafoe.
Producers Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen are certainly no strangers at winning over females, having spearheaded the Twilight franchise for Summit Entertainment.
Fault launched in a handful of foreign markets this weekend, grossing a strong $17 million from 17 markets, including key territories Brazil -- where Green's book is a cultural phenomenon -- Australia and Mexico. It placed No. 1 in all, despite competition from Edge of Tomorrow.
Directed by Doug Liman and co-starring Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow stars Cruise as a military spin doctor who finds himself on the battlefield, where he is forced to live the same day over and over again. Edge couldn't match the $37.1 million debut of Cruise's last film, the sci-fi epic Oblivion, which opened in April 2013.
Warners is counting on Edge of Tomorrow to make up ground overseas, where Cruise remains a far bigger star.
Elsewhere in North America, Fox's X-Men: Days of Future Past placed No. 4 in its third weekend, falling 55 percent to $14.7 million for a domestic total of $189.1 million.
Seth MacFarlane's ill-fated A Million Ways to Die in the West slipped to No. 5 in its second weekend, tumbling 57 percent to $7.2 million for a paltry domestic total of $30.1 million.
Jon Favreau's indie food-truck comedy Chef expanded nationwide to solid results, grossing $2.6 million for a domestic total of $10.4 million for Open Road Films.
Next Up: Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are back undercover as officers Schmidt and Jenko in the action comedy sequel 22 Jump Street. Jay Baruchel is back as hiccup in the CG animated sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2. Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke and Beau Knapp can hear The Signal
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