Exodus: Gods And Kings––Ridley Scott’s latest attempt at turning a foundational cultural myth into an epic-length assemblage of underdeveloped themes and underwhelming battle scenes––ascended to the top of Mount Box Office this weekend, returning with stone tablets inscribed with four-and-twenty million dollars, give or take.
Exodus’ $24.5 million was more than enough to vaunt it to the top spot, though it was significantly lower than the opening for Darren Aronofsky’s midrash extravaganza Noah ($43.7 million) or Scott’s indifferently conceived and received Robin Hood ($36 million), and just below the opening for Son of God ($25.6), which was barely even a movie.
In terms of coverage, reviews, and all-around goodwill, Exodus was overshadowed by a lower-budgeted (and frankly better) movie, Top Five––which, yes, made it into the Top 5 this week. (Specifically it was No. 4, behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and Penguins Of Madagascar.) Chris Rock’s showbiz romcom––about a Rock-like stand-up-turned-actor who spends an afternoon walking around New York with a journalist played by Rosario Dawson––made $7.2 million, a figure that seems much bigger in light of the movie’s modest $6 million budget.
Comparatively speaking, no film this week could top the success of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, which rode the A.V. Club bump to a per-theater average of $66,000. Though that doesn’t equal the average of Anderson’s The Master, which similarly opened in five theaters, or the per-theater averages of any of Wes Anderson’s recent movies, it’s still a lot of money. (Top Five, by comparison, average $7,365 per theater.)
For more detailed numbers, visit Box Office Mojo.