NORTH AMERICA: 'Noah' Leads the Way on Monday with $3.11M

By Daniel Garris

Paramount's Noah took in $3.11 million on Monday to lead the daily box office for a fourth consecutive day. The Darren Aronofsky directed biblical epic starring Russell Crowe fell 72 percent from Sunday. Noah continues to outpace pre-release expectations with a four-day start of $46.83 million. Compared to other recent films, Noah is currently running a slim 4 percent behind the $48.92 million four-day start of 300: Rise of an Empire and 81 percent ahead of the $27.07 million four-day take of Son of God. With Disney's Captain America: The Winter Soldier entering the marketplace on Friday, it is especially important for Noah to gross as much as it can this week.

Divergent placed in second with $1.66 million. Lionsgate's young adult adaptation starring Shailene Woodley was down 72 percent from Sunday and down a respectable 53.5 percent from last Monday. Divergent continues to display very solid holding power for a young adult adaptation. With an eleven-day take of $96.04 million, Divergent is now just $3.96 million away from reaching the $100 million domestic milestone. Divergent is currently running 21 percent behind the $121.18 million eleven-day take of 2008's Twilight.

God's Not Dead grossed $0.730 million to take third place. The faith-based drama from Freestyle and Pure Flix was down 74 percent from Sunday and down just 15 percent from last Monday. God's Not Dead has grossed a stronger than expected $22.48 million in eleven days. That places the film 34 percent ahead of the $16.75 million eleven-day gross of 2011's Courageous.

Fox Searchlight's The Grand Budapest Hotel claimed fourth place with $0.696 million. The Wes Anderson directed film was down 69 percent form Sunday and up 11 percent over last Monday (when it was playing in significantly fewer locations). The Grand Budapest Hotel has grossed a healthy $24.87 million through 25 days of release.

Muppets Most Wanted rounded out Monday's top five with $0.673 million. The latest Muppets film from Disney was down 80 percent from Sunday and down 42 percent from last Monday. Muppets Most Wanted has grossed $33.79 million in eleven days, which places the film an underwhelming 36 percent behind the $53.13 million eleven-day gross of 2011's The Muppets.

Mr. Peabody & Sherman placed in sixth with $0.606 million. The 3D computer animated film from Fox and DreamWorks Animation fell 76 percent from Sunday and 37 percent from last Monday. Mr. Peabody & Sherman has grossed a respectable $95.08 million in 25 days, which leaves the film $4.92 million away from reaching the $100 million domestic mark.

Open Road's Sabotage landed in seventh place with $0.438 million. The action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was down 68 percent from Sunday. Sabotage continues to perform poorly with a four-day start of just $5.71 million. The film is currently running 21 percent behind the already soft $7.21 million four-day start of last year's The Last Stand.