Darren Aronofsky’s biblical epic Noah easily topped the domestic box office with an estimated $44 million as it overcame opposition from some Christian fundamentalists, who disliked the way in which Aronofsky fleshed out the sketchy biblical story.  Overseas Noah opened well, earning $51.2 million, but the biblical film was overshadowed by Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which, a week before its U.S. bow, debuted in 32 markets and grossed a stellar $75.2 million.  Meanwhile back in North America, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s attempts to continue his movie career after his two terms as California governor continue to fail as his latest action film Sabotage was DOA.  Overall the domestic box office was down about 4.5% compared with the same weekend, when G.I. Joe: Retaliation debuted with $40.5 million.
 
Noah is just the first of a number of "religiously-themed" movies of various sizes that are due out this year.  Aronofsky brings a dark indie “edge” to the biblical drama along with a heavy-handed ecological message that evidently didn’t sit well with a portion of the audience.  Noah only received a "C" CinemaScore, which typically heralds a box office demise, though in this case the movie was so polarizing that the grade may be misleading.  Paramount reports that 15% of the audience gave the film a "D" or an "F," while 65% gave it an "A" or a "B" score.  As might be expected the opening weekend audience for Noah was evenly split between the genders, and older, with 54% over 25.  The prospects for Noah remain mixed, especially since it will face stiff competition in the coming weeks, though with solid reviews (76% positive) it could hang around for a while.
 
Last weekend’s winner Divergent declined just 51.5%, which has to be considered a solid "hold" for a film in this category.  The $85 million production has now earned $95.2 million domestically, and is yet to open overseas.
 
Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted also enjoyed a strong "hold," as it declined just 33.1% and earned an estimated $11.3 million to bring its total to $33.2 million.  This $50 million production will need to stay around for quite a while (and also do well overseas) in order to keep the franchise viable.  Even the Jason Siegel/Amy Adams Muppet Movie that revived the franchise in 2011 didn’t make very much money, so this is a property that remains on the "edge."
 

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): March 28-30, 2014
	Film	Weekend Gross	Screens	Avg./ Screen	Total Gross	Wk#
1	Noah	$44,000,000	3,567	$12,335	$44,000,000	1
2	Divergent	$26,500,000	3,936	$6,733	$95,260,000	2
3	Muppets Most Wanted	$11,373,000	3,194	$3,561	$33,210,000	2
4	Mr. Peabody & Sherman	$9,500,000	3,299	$2,880	$94,909,000	4
5	God's Not Dead	$9,075,000	1,178	$7,704	$22,028,000	2
6	The Grand Budapest Hotel	$8,825,000	977	$9,033	$24,457,000	4
7	Sabotage	$5,330,000	2,486	$2,144	$5,330,000	1
8	Need for Speed	$4,335,000	2,705	$1,603	$37,753,000	3
9	300: Rise of An Empire	$4,300,000	2,601	$1,653	$101,145,000	4
10	Non-Stop	$4,087,000	2,515	$1,625	$85,167,000	5

Dreamworks’ animated feature Mr. Peabody & Sherman also got off to a slow start in the current family film-clogged environment.  The Jay Ward-inspired film declined just 19.7% in its fourth week of release as it brought its domestic total to $94.9 million. 
 
Fifth place went to God’s Not Dead, a more conventional religiously-themed film that is doing solid business in flyover country.  The film added nearly 400 theaters bringing its total to nearly 1,200, and its weekly total declined just 1.5%.  This lower budget film has benefited from a targeted marketing campaign with the goal of getting pastors to recommend the film.
 
Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel moved up from #7 to #6 as it added 673 theaters bringing its total number of venues to 977.  With the second highest average in the top ten ($9,033, trailing just Noah’s $12,335), The Grand Budapest Hotel, which has earned $24.5 million, appears to be the indie hit of the spring.
 
Sabotage is just the latest in a string of post-Governator flops from Schwarzenegger.  Its debut total of $5.3 million is one of the worst ever bows for a film opening in more than 2,500 theaters. 
 
Meanwhile Legendary Pictures’ 300: Rise of an Empire earned $4.3 million and drove its domestic total to $101.1 million.  The film has done even better overseas where it has earned $213.1 million for a worldwide total of $314.2 million.
 
After eight weeks The LEGO Movie fell out of the top ten, but it still earned $3.1 million and drove its 2014-leading domestic total to $248.3 million.
 
Check back next week to see how Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the first big comic book movie release of 2014, fares at the box office.