The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is a sequel that comes more than ten years after its predecessor. Despite the decade-long gap, however, audiences were more than ready to welcome the comeback, as the sequel scored a massive $55.4 million opening weekend.
SpongeBob‘s take is the fifth highest-grossing opening weekend of all time for February, and is less than $14 million behind The Lego Movie‘s stunning take last year. Paramount, who shrewdly marketed their movie with a live-action element and capitalized on the current superhero craze by giving SpongeBob and his friends superpowers, will now be smiling all the way to the bank.
Meanwhile, not just one, but two box office bombs detonated this weekend. Warner Bros.’ Jupiter Ascending and Universal’s Seventh Son bowed with a dismal $18.4 million and $7.2 million, respectively. Both films suffered from major production delays and being dumped in the cinematic wastelands of February.
The news of Jupiter‘s failure, in particular, is a black eye for anybody looking for more original fare from their Hollywood blockbusters. There were higher hopes for Andy and Lana Wachowski‘s first original film since The Matrix in 1999, but critics have not been kind, and audiences obviously didn’t buy into their new universe, either.
Read Our Review: Jupiter Ascending: It’s Phantom Menace All Over Again
Universal is projected to lose over $85 million on Seventh Son, which has also grossed only $83.6 million overseas since opening first in China in January.
On the other hand, American Sniper continued its box office rampage, despite falling to second place behind SpongeBob. With another $23.3 million added to its domestic total, Sniper is on track to supplant The Matrix Reloaded as the second highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, behind The Passion of the Christ.
The top ten for the weekend:
- The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, $55.4 million
- American Sniper, $23.3 million
- Jupiter Ascending, $18.4 million
- Seventh Son, $7.2 million
- Project Almanac, $5.2 million
- Paddington, $5.2 million
- The Wedding Ringer, $4.7 million
- The Imitation Game, $4.7 million
- Black or White, $4.5 million
- The Boy Next Door, $4.1 million
via Box Office Mojo