Lionsgate’s ‘Allegiant’ stalls in Friday box office; Disney’s ‘Zootopia’ holds strong

It may be at the No. 1 spot for the Friday box office, but “The Divergent Series: Allegiant” is sputtering as a franchise. The Lionsgate film drew an estimated $11.9 million from 3,740 theaters on Friday, for its weakest opening in the three-part series’ history.

The first two “Divergent Series” films, based on the young adult novels by Veronica Roth, had reliably grossed $50 million in the first three days in theaters. But pre-release audience surveys show that “Allegiant” may pull in as little as $30 million this weekend. (It cost about $110 million to make.)

This does not bode well for the series’ fourth part, “Divergent Series: Ascendant,” which is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2017.

In the meantime, Disney’s animated “Zootopia,” about a determined little bunny (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) who joins her town’s police force, pulled in a respectable $9.7 million Friday in its third week in release.

If strong ticket sales continue, it will likely seize the No. 1 slot from “Allegiant” for the weekend. The film has pulled in more than $170 million in domestic box office receipts.

Sony’s “Miracles From Heaven,” the faith-based Jennifer Garner picture about a mom struggling with her daughter’s medical condition, came in a distant third, drawing an estimated Friday haul of $4.1 million — for a total of $7.7 million in domestic box office receipts.

In fourth and fifth place, respectively, were Paramount’s thriller “10 Cloverfield Lane,” which did $3.7 million in Friday box office takes, and Fox’s anti-heroic action hero flick, “Deadpool,” which drew $2.3 million. The latter film has $335 million in domestic box office receipts to date.

Twitter: @cmonstah