Box Office: Not a Good Friday for Johnny Depp's 'Transcendence'

 

As Dr. Will Caster works toward his goal of creating an omniscient, sentient machine, a radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent him from establishing a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain.

Director:

Wally Pfister

Writer:

Jack Paglen

Stars:

Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman

Sci-fi epic Transcendence is struggling in its Easter weekend debut, marking another box office disappointment for Johnny Depp in the U.S.

 Based on early Friday returns, the $100 million movie may have trouble crossing $20 million for the weekend, although that could change if traffic surges on Saturday. Transcendence is hoping to make up ground overseas, where it is getting a coveted day-and-date release in China.

That leaves the holiday race in North America up for grabs. Holdovers Rio 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier each have a shot at coming in ahead of Transcendence, with Rio 2 tipped to come in No. 1 with $24 million or more.
Alcon Entertainment co-financed Transcendence with China's DMG Entertainment, while Warner Bros. is handling domestic distribution duties. Summit International sold Transcendence overseas to independent distributors, covering much of the budget. Straight Up Films developed the project, and brought it to Alcon.
Outside of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in 2011, Depp's most recent films -- The Lone and Ranger, Dark Shadows and The Rum Diary -- have struggled badly in the U.S. Generally speaking, he remains a far more potent star overseas, although Lone Ranger and Dark Shadows still bombed.
Marking the directorial debut of cinematographer Wally Pfister -- a favorite of Christopher Nolan's -- Transcendence stars Depp as a brilliant scientist whose mind is uploaded into a computer after he is gunned down. Rebecca Hall and Morgan Freeman also star, while Nolan and his wife, Emma Thomas, served as executive producers.
Easter weekend sees three other new nationwide offerings -- Christian film Heaven Is For Real, which debuted Wednesday, A Haunted House 2; and Disney documentary Bears.


Heaven Is For Real continues to impress, amassing $7 million in its first two days after receiving an A CinemaScore. The movie, released by Sony's TriStar label, is pacing to take in north of $15 million over Easter weekend for a five-day debut of $22 million or more.
Produced by influential pastor T. D. Jakes, director Randall Wallace and Hollywood veteran Joe Roth, Heaven Is For Real stars Greg Kinnear. The drama is doing strong business in the country's Bible Belt, but is also appealing to mainstream audiences.
IM Global's Haunted House 2 is pacing to open in the $10 million to $12 million range, compared to roughly $18 million for the first film. Open Road Films is distributing the comedy-horror title, which reteams director Michael Tiddes and star Marlon Wayans.
Haunted House 2, a follow-up to the 2013 box office hit, cost just $3 million to produce. Wayans co-wrote the script with his longtime filmmaking partner Rick Alvarez.
Bears is expected to open in the solid $7 million range. Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey, the nature documentary follows a family of grizzly bears living in Alaska. John C. Reilly narrated the film.