No doubt you heard the news: Fast & Furious 7 has crushed its competition and set a new local box office record for a weekend both in earnings and attendance. This may sound like it has dethroned Fifty Shades Of Grey, which broke the record for a single day debut, but the press releases are not all that clear. That said, by the looks of it FF7 also crossed that line.
So, in the number one spot: Fast & Furious 7. Or Furious 7. Or just Sven, if you are that close to this series. What started as a rather niche petrol-head action movie (though the first probably had the least car-related action of the series) has exploded into a massive global franchise that has earned north of a billion dollars. The arrival of FF7 simply crushed anything else in its wake and we may credit Paul Walker’s death for some of that. But everyone is lapping this one up, saying that if you ignore the plot and just chew on the eye candy, it’s all kinds of awesome. Funny – that’s usually the hallmark of a good FF movie!
As such the live-action Cinderella had to settle for a second-place debut. But expect it to do well as the Kenneth Branagh directed Disney movie has been finding its prince all over the world with some healthy earnings both in the U.S. and elsewhere. Even critics love it, so this one is bound to stay around for a while.
Dropping from its first-place entry last week to third is Home, the first Dreamworks Animation of the year. It’s doing okay, but is not a smashing success and lags behind Dreamworks’ two bigger hits: Monsters vs. Aliens and How To Train Your Dragon. Insurgent, the second movie in the Divergent series, holds on despite tepid reviews but also dropped two spots to make space for the new entries.
On fifth is Strikdas, the third South African movie to get into the top 10 this year and yet again another Afrikaans production. This one sounds a little like the plot of Benny & Joon: a well-to-do girl meets a odd chap with strange clothing tastes and brings him home. The director references Meet The Parents too, so its about different families striking a common chord, and there seems to be a good dash of romcom in this one as well.
Sixth, the Afrikaans movie Ballade Vir ‘N Enkeling, so that puts two local Afrikaans movies into the top 10 at the same time. Hopefully we will start seeing other local movies appear here soon, but for the moment the Afrikaans market has this movie thing down pat. At seventh is Focus, the film about con artists starring Will Smith. Though not a fantastic performer, it is celebrating its fourth week on the charts.
At eight is the sequel The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a magnet for top older British stars and the people who love watching them, dropping down one spot. Ninth is the naughty antics of The Boy Next Door, where Jennifer Lopez shows how hot a 45 year old can look, and also dropping down one spot.
Finally, at tenth and perhaps its last week: Spongebob Squarepants: Sponge Out Of Water! It has outperformed the year’s streak record holder, Tak3n, and also outstayed Fifty Shades of Grey. The crew from Bikini Bottom are now the streak to beat with nine weeks under their belts.
Leaving the charts this week are American Sniper, Top Five and Fifty Shades of Grey, which is still the year’s biggest earner (R36 million). But Fast & Furious 7 could eclipse that: it has already made R20.9 million. Fifty Shades took two weeks to earn the same total.
- 01. FAST & FURIOUS 7
- 02. CINDERELLA
- 03. HOME (incl 3D)
- 04. INSURGENT (incl 3D & Imax)
- 05. STRIKDAS
- 06. BALLADE VIR ‘N ENKELING
- 07. FOCUS
- 08. SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL
- 09. BOY NEXT DOOR
- 10. SPONGEBOB: SPONGE OUT OF WATER
Last Updated: April 8, 2015
