10 Highest-Grossing Movies Of 2014 (So Far) - Ranked From Worst To Best

10. Divergent ($264m)

Another year, another young adult literary adaptation hoping to spawn a successful franchise. Credit where credit is due in the fact that Divergent avoided the pitfalls of the dozens of YA movies hoping to follow in the footsteps of the hugely lucrative Harry Potter/Twilight/Hunger Games franchises, but apart from strong performances from Shailene Woodley and Theo James Divergent is yet another generic and predictable adaptation to roll off the production line, albeit a commercially successful one. The story takes place in a futuristic dystopian Chicago where everyone is divided into factions based on personality, and follows Woodley's Tris who is the 'divergent' of the title, meaning she fails to fit into any group. What follows is 140 minutes of clunky exposition that spends more time reinforcing the premise and expanding the universe for the sequels, so much so that it fails to deliver any well-rounded characters or memorable set-pieces. Still, Divergent surprised at the box office when backed by the source material's sizable fanbase it opened to an impressive $54.6m on its way to a domestic gross just shy of $150m. Clearly the books are more popular Stateside than overseas as Divergent has made less than 45% of its global total from international markets, a small number for an $85m studio blockbuster. Sequel Insurgent is set for release next March, with final chapter Allegiant now being split into two parts because that seems to be the rule for the final installments of popular literary franchises these days.