"Neighbors" unseats Spidey to top box office
Seth Rogen and Zac Efron have bested the web-slinger at the box office.
Rogen and Efron's family-versus-fraternity comedy "Neighbors," was the top draw for moviegoers this weekend, unseating last week's champ, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2."
The R-rated "Neighbors" debuted with $51 million in ticket sales, pushing Spidey to second place with $37 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"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."
R-rated comedies have traditionally found success in the summer movie season: Think "Bridesmaids," "The Hangover," 2012's "Ted" and last year's "The Heat."
"Neighbors" 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.
Rogen compared "Neighbors" with his earlier films, telling CBS News, "We have to go so much further now to make people laugh, and to seem edgy and outrageous than we did even, you know, eight years ago. It's crazy, the level of disgust people want these days!"
The Universal release earned a "fresh" rating from review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com, with 74 percent of film critics responding favorably to the film. Conversely, Sony's "Amazing Spider-Man 2" earned a "rotten" rating of 54 percent.
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.