LOS ANGELES (AP) – Seth Rogen and Zac Efron have bested Spider-Man at the box office.
Rogen and Efron’s family-versus-fraternity comedy Neighbours, was the top draw for moviegoers this weekend, unseating last week’s champ, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Neighbours debuted with US$51 million in ticket sales, pushing Spidey to second place with $37 million, according to studio estimates yesterday.
“Sustaining a No. 1 ranking is generally tougher in the summer than any other time of year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. “You don’t expect a comedy to be able to unseat an epic blockbuster, but historically it happens more than you think.”
Raunchy comedies have traditionally found success in the summer movie season: Think Bridesmaids, The Hangover, 2012’s Ted and last year’s The Heat.
Neighbours stars Rogen and Rose Byrne as new parents finding their footing in the suburbs when a fraternity led by Efron moves in next door. Filled with goofball and gross-out gags balanced with a dash of heart, the comedy boasts some epic party scenes and ample shirtless Efron.
The Universal release earned a “fresh” rating from review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com, with 74 per cent of film critics responding favourably to the film. Conversely, Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 earned a “rotten” rating of 54 per cent.
Spidey is still a major success, with more than $550 million in worldwide ticket sales so far.
“Spider-Man has nothing to worry about,” Dergarabedian said.
Another comedy, the Cameron Diaz-Leslie Mann revenge romp The Other Woman held onto third place in its third week of release, adding $9 million to its take. Heaven Is for Real and Captain America: The Winter Soldier round out the top five.
