MAR 28-30 BOX OFFICE REPORT: NOAH FLOATS, SABOTAGE SINKS

American audiences preferred to travel back 4,000 years than a mere 30 or so at the box office over the weekend. Noah, Darren Aronofsky's controversial biblical epic, pulled in $43.7 million to swiftly knock Divergent off of the top spot - the YA adaptation fell 53.1% to $25.6 million, a significantly smaller drop than any of the Twilight or Hunger Games films (so far) in their second weekends. Noah's success was just about the only among new releases, though: the latest in '80s icon Arnold Schwarzenegger's would-be comeback to film, Sabotage, made a measly $5.3 million - his worst start since 1985's Red Sonja. Moderate release Cesar Chavez made twelfth place, and moderate expander Bad Words thirteenth, which was another disappointing result for Focus Features under their new leadership. Mostly, the top holdovers held quite well, though, with Muppets Most Wanted, Mr. Peabody & Sherman and God's Not Dead (which underwent a significant expansion) all dropping no more than 33.7% of their gross on last weekend, and The Grand Budapest Hotel's $8.5 million was Wes Anderson's biggest weekend in his career to date. Further down, there was a good start for Indonesian action sequel The Raid 2, making over $165k in seven theatres.

Top 10

1. Noah ($43,729,472)
2. Divergent ($25,619,578)
3. Muppets Most Wanted ($11,279,128)
4. Mr. Peabody & Sherman ($9,070,653)
5. God's Not Dead ($8,797,666)*
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel ($8,539,795)
7. Sabotage ($5,272,444)
8. Need for Speed ($4,226,216)
9. 300: Rise of an Empire ($4,209,290)
10. Non-Stop ($4,010,885)

* This is priceless