Sometimes, a film can open at number one at the box office while still being a pretty huge disaster. This is the case with ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings,’ which rode a wave of terrible reviews to a hugely disappointing start. With a lot of big movies opening the next two weeks, the new Biblical epic won’t even find time to grow some legs. Chances are strong that it is dead on arrival.

FilmWeekendPer Screen
1Exodus: Gods and Kings$24,500,000$6,994$24,500,000
2The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1$13,200,000 (-40.1)$3,538$277,398,000
3The Penguins of Madagascar$7,300,000 (-33.1)$1,991$58,839,000
4Top Five$7,210,000$7,365$7,210,000
5Big Hero 6$6,145,000 (-23.6)
$2,088$185,325,000
6Interstellar$5,500,000 (-29.4)$2,043$166,800,000
7Horrible Bosses 2$4,630,000 (-45.0)$1,446$43,601,000
8Dumb and Dumber To$2,757,000 (-35.6)$970$82,117,000
9The Theory of Everything$2,525,000 (-4.6)$2,070$17,148,000
10Wild$1,550,000 (+155.4)$13,362$2,423,000

Let’s get specific: ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ opened to $24 million, which would be a solid number for a lot of movies ... just not a solid number for a movie that cost a reported $140 million (and probably a whole lot more than that). We can’t pass final judgment until we see how this thing performs in overseas markets, but the epic action fans and the faith-based crowds that Fox was counting on didn’t turn out. At this rate, it will be hugely outgrossed by the far weirder and far less accessible ‘Noah.’

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom this week. Chris Rock’s acclaimed ‘Top Five’ opened in fourth place with a solid $7 million, which is a nice start for a lower-budgeted film that opened in limited release. For the more interesting successes, you’ve got to scroll on down to slot number nine and ‘The Theory of Everything,’ which continued to quietly dominate in its limited release. With a $2.5 million weekend and a $17 million total, the Stephen Hawking biopic is already a sleeper hit, and considering the minuscule 4.6% drop, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

Speaking of films performing well in limited release, check out ‘Wild,’ which grossed $1.5 million this week. The film has been slowly expanding and has grossed $2.4 million so far, which is a solid start for a small film like this. Just look at that 155% increase! The small successes continued outside of the top 10, with ‘Birdman,’ ‘The Imitation Game’ and ‘Inherent Vice’ performing well in various stages of limited release.

But let’s go back to the chart above. ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1’ took a bit of a tumble this week, grossing $13 million for a $277 million total. It should reach $300 million within the next two weeks, but the $400 million gross of the first two films is looking impossible at this point. What went wrong here? Were people simply turned off by the final chapter being split into two movies?

In third place, ‘The Penguins of Madagascar’ continued to do disappointing business, earning $7 million for a $58 million total. ‘Horrible Bosses 2’ continued along a similarly mediocre track, making $4 million for a $43 million total. It’s going to struggle to do half of what the first film did.

In fifth and sixth place, ‘Big Hero 6’ and ‘Interstellar’ continued to be attached at the hip, with the former still managing to pull ahead just enough at every opportunity. ‘Big Hero 6’ should cross $200 million as soon as next week, but it’s still an uphill battle for ‘Interstellar.’

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