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For Universal, the studio has released four films in 2014, three of which have been huge. They got started with Lone Survivor, which debuted to $37.8 million and went on to earn $125 million domestically along with $25 million overseas, all against a budget of $40 million. They then released Ride Along, which opened to $40 million plus, earned $134 million domestically and another $20 million overseas and growing – versus a $25 million production budget. Next was their miss, Endless Love, which grossed only $23.5 million domestically and $10 million overseas, but cost only $20 million. Then came Non-Stop, which cost $50 million to make but earned just short of $200 million worldwide. Prior to Neighbors, Universal had spent $135 million and earned about $535 million worldwide. Now they have another $100 million plus earner on the domestic side alone, against a cost of $18 million.

With Neighbors, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 lost the fight on Friday night, but given its target demographic, had the rest of weekend to get back in the game. The gap after Friday was too much, however, leaving Sony to stew over a second weekend gross of $37.2 million from 4,324 venues. The second weekend, Friday night gross for Spidey 2 was almost exactly the same as the second weekend Friday gross for the original, as it earned $10.2 million, where the sequel earned $10.1 million. So, after all that celebrating over the opening coming in $30 million higher came to a screeching halt in the second weekend, as the weekend scores are just about flat after the original earned $34.6 million in weekend two.

It’s also important to keep in mind how amazingly expensive it is to bring these Spider-Man films to the screen. Both the original and the sequel cost in the area of $230 million, which indicates to me they need a worldwide haul of at least $650 million to see a profit. The original did $752 million worldwide, and the sequel should do better, as it already has more than a half-billion in its web thus far. They don’t shine like the Marvel/Disney films, and aren’t as good (Spidey 2 is 54% fresh, Captain America 2 is 89% fresh), and I often feel that Sony leaves money on the table as they rush to get this product out. On the domestic side, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has earned $147.9 million so far.

Fox’s The Other Woman is quietly doing some decent business so far, not just on the domestic side but internationally as well. In its third weekend, against two giants, The Other Woman earned another $9.2 million from 3,306 venues. It was off a respectable 36%, given that the two films above it combined for $80 million. Cameron Diaz puts another strong comedy title onto her impressive comedic resume, which includes Bad Teacher ($100.3 million domestic), What Happens in Vegas ($80 million domestic) and of course, There’s Something About Mary ($176 million domestic). The Other Woman cost only $40 million to make, and has grossed $61.7 million at the domestic box office already. Overseas it’s earned $60 million plus and counting.

Heaven Is for Real finishes in fourth place as it spends its fourth weekend in theaters. Heaven earned another $7 million and held amazingly well, dropping just 18% in weekend four. The $12 million film from Tri-Star has now earned $75.2 million, and will pay for losses incurred by Moms’ Night Out.

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