Of all the films to finally end Captain America: Civil War's run at the top of the American box office charts, we're not sure we would have expected The Angry Birds Movie to be the actual winner. Yet the adaptation of the avian-flinging mobile sensation managed what others couldn't, soaring to the top with $39 million this weekend, according to studio estimates.
The film, which had the advantage of providing some fresh family entertainment, also did well globally, adding $43 million for an $82 million worldwide total to date. Get ready for Sony Pictures Animation to announce Angry Birds 2: Bird Harder or some such sequel soon enough. Still, Civil War need not worry: the latest Marvel film added more than $33 million after three weeks in the charts and has a US total standing at $347.3 million. Globally, the news is even better as the movie crossed the $1 billion mark on Friday and continues to earn well.
In third place we find the second of the week's new arrivals, comedy sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (known here in the UK as Bad Neighbours 2). The new outing earned $21.7 million on its launch, lagging behind the original, which kicked off with $49 million. And there was disappointment ahead for Shane Black, Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. In a world where there are endless tweets and posts about Hollywood's lack of ideas, or decrying the glut of sequels/reboots/adaptations of other media, an actual original film with recognisable stars and good reviews was greeted with a shrug. The Nice Guys landed fourth with $11.2 million. This is why we can't have nice things. In this case, literally.
Rounding out the top five was The Jungle Book, which took in $11 million; and that's after six weeks in the charts. Sixth place went to Money Monster, down three slots with $7 million. Horror thriller The Darkness also fell, landing at seventh and $2.3 million. Zootopia was eighth on $1.7 million and is itself scraping at the doors of the billion dollar club worldwide with $981.8 million, though seems unlikely to crack the big B.
Ninth was The Huntsman: Winter's War, earning $1.19 million, while Mother's Day sank five places to 10th, making $1.11 million.