http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-divergent-nabs-49-690187
Summit Entertainment's
Divergent grossed a strong $4.9 million Thursday night as it began rolling out in North America.
Based on prerelease tracking, box-office observers believe the movie could post an opening weekend gross as high as $60 million (Summit is being more conservative and saying $50 million-plus). While neither number will match Summit's
Twilight andLionsgate's
The Hunger Games, it would break the curse that has plagued nearly every other YA film adaptation and provide a strong launch for what's a planned franchise.
PHOTOS: 'Divergent' Star Shailene Woodley: Outtakes From THR's Exclusive Photo Shoots
Neil Burger directed the $85 million sci-fi adventure, which expands into a total of 3,900 locations on Friday, including nearly 350 Imax locations. Based on the best-selling book series by
Veronica Roth,
Divergent stars
Shailene Woodley as a young woman who poses a threat to society after failing to fit into one of five strictly controlled factions.
"We're off to a great start with strong numbers from all regions of the country, urban, suburban and rural alike,” said Lionsgate CEO
Jon Feltheimer (Summit is now part of Lionsgate). “We're confident that
Divergent is on its way to becoming another important franchise for us, and we have just greenlighted the second film,
Insurgent.”
Divergent's Thursday night number paled in comparison to the $19.7 million earned by
The Hunger Games, and came in behind the $7 million grossed in midnight runs by the first
Twilight.
Summit pointed out that the movie did exceed the $3.6 million grossed Thursday night by last summer's
World War Z, which went on to earn $53.1 million for the weekend, as well as the $3.3 million earned Thursday night by
The Great Gatsby, which launched to $50.1 million.