“Insurgent” topped the weekend box office with $54 million, but its opening will likely fall just short of the numbers put up a year ago by the first film in the “Divergent” series.
That’s a disappointment for Lionsgate, the studio behind the adaptations of Veronica Roth’s best-selling books about a dystopian future. It hoped that the franchise would be able to build on its initial start, aided by star Shailene Woodley’s higher profile following the success of “The Fault in Our Stars.”
The weekend’s other major wide release, “The Gunman” fired blanks, picking up a meager $5 million and seemingly deep-sixing Sean Penn’s plans to be an aging action star. Open Road distributed the film in 2,816 theaters and had expected a debut in the $8 million range.
