Divergent tops US box office with $56 million

Divergent has topped the US box office over the weekend.

Based on the Veronica Roth books, the sci-fi thriller took $56 million over the weekend, studio estimates said.

Divergent is the third franchise based on young-adult best-sellers from Lionsgate after Twilight and The Hunger Games.

The movie made less than anticipated but Richie Fay president of domestic distribution for Lionsgate called it “a great beginning”.

Twilight opened with $69.6 million and The Hunger Games with $152.5 million.

Shailene Woodley and Theo James star in Divergent, which also features Kate Winslet and is set in a dystopian Chicago where society is divided into five factions and one of them, the Divergents, are targeted to be destroyed.

The Muppet sequel Muppets Most Wanted, starring Ricky Gervais did not do as well as expected, taking just $16.5 million over the weekend.

The original Disney Muppet movie reboot opened with $29.2 million in 2011.

Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney, admitted it was disappointing, especially as advance tracking had suggested the sequel would do much better.

In its third week of release, Mr. Peabody and Sherman continued to do well – it took $11.7 million putting it in third place.

The biggest surprise was the film God’s Not Dead, which made $8.6 million, despite playing on just 780 screens.

The independently released faith film is about a college student who battles his philosophy professor, as he refuses to sign his declaration that God is Dead in order to pass his course.

Meanwhile the film version of the TV show Veronica Mars made just $144,000 in its second week.

Veronica Mars, which was funded by fans via Kickstarter, has made a total of $2.9 million for Warner Bros.

North American box office Top 5:

1. Divergent – $56 million

2. Muppets Most Wanted – $16.5 million

3. Mr. Peabody and Sherman – $11.7 million

4. 300: Rise of an Empire – $8.7 million

5. God’s Not Dead – $8.6 million

Source: Rentrak