‘Insurgent’ Tickets, Reviews & Box Office Update: Film Close to ‘Divergent’ Mark

The story of the divergent Tris Prior continues in the second film, "The Divergent Series: Insurgent," based on the novel by Veronica Roth. The young adult-dystopian series came in at the top of the box office with a $54 million opening in the US and Canada, as reported by Time Magazine. According to the Box Office Mojo, the number easily took away the top spot from Disney's "Cinderella." The numbers seem big, but it's still slightly less than last year's "Divergent" which earned $54.6 at the box office in its first weekend.

Because of the slight, but notable decline in sales, questions have been raised regarding the trajectory of the four-part films, considering that Lionsgate hoped for an opening weekend that will gather better results than its predecessor, like what happened with other popular Young Adult franchises, "The Hunger Games" and "Twilight."

Other than that, "Insurgent" was more expensive to make, with a $120 million budget, as opposed to the $85 million for its predecessor.

However, it did do well internationally, with another $47 million for the worldwide debut, giving it a grand total of $101 million. The higher sales overseas came from the new popularity that Veronica Roth's series found abroad during the past year.

While "Insurgent" seems to be doing well at the box office, the film that shared its opening - Sean Penn's "The Gunman" did not fare as well, with, as IGN noted, only $5 million in the opening. A more religious film, called "Do You Believe," debuted with even lower numbers, with an estimated $4 million.

Forbes noted that as far as producers for the "Divergent" series need not worry, the almost identical box office openings are nothing to be troubled with as there is no foolproof plan as to how they will fare. On the other hand, the site also noted that the fanbase for "Divergent" did not expand, so numbers are at a standstill.

Deadline also noted that the difference in worldwide sales lie heavily on the currency fluctuations all over the world, proving it difficult for Hollywood, with tots lower than expected box office sales. However, the film is still at the top for most of the ex-US territories, ensuring that it is by no means a flop. The website also noted that in some countries, the sales for "Insurgent" increased significantly compared to its predecessor, so all in all, Shailene Woodley's Tris Prior has nothing to worry about in terms of sales for the last two films in the series.

Check out the trailer here: