'Fault in Our Stars' edges out 'Tomorrow' at box office

The Fault in Our Stars had a near-flawless opening this weekend, stunning analysts with a No. 1 debut that clobbered Tom Cruise's latest and underscored moviegoers' appetite for female-driven films.

Stars collected $48.2 million, according to studio estimates from box-office trackers Rentrak.

The debut smashed expectations, which hovered around $35 million for the young-adult novel adaptation.

But the film became a social media sensation when author John Green and the film's stars embarked on a nationwide mall tour. By the time it hit theaters, the $12 million movie had plenty of momentum to crush Cruise's $178 million sci-fi spectacular Edge of Tomorrow, which settled for third place and $29.1 million.

As the numbers rolled in, "film industry experts began to realize that David was going to beat Goliath," says David Mumpower, analyst for Box Office Prophets. "In fact, Goliath did not even put up a fight."

Mumpower says the mall tour and social media promotion could be a game changer. "The popularity of this movie has effectively debuted a new business model," he says.

Critics and fans were solidly behind Stars, which features Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as cancer- and love-stricken teenagers. The movie scored an 82% approval rating from reviewers on survey site Rotten Tomatoes and earned an A from moviegoers, says CinemaScore.

Not that Tomorrow came into the weekend empty-handed. The action film received a thumbs-up from 89% of critics and a B-plus from audiences.

But big budgets were no match for girl power at the box office, which has seen females flexing muscle of late. Stars follows last month's Angelina Jolie fairy tale Maleficent, another No. 1 that exceeded forecasts by millions.

"The Fault in Our Stars may not have the big budget or the tried-and-true star power of Edge of Tomorrow, but its source material is a true phenomenon, the likes of which we don't see very often," says Dave Karger, chief correspondent for online ticket retailer Fandango.

"Edge of Tomorrow is a fantastic film, but its fun premise was harder to describe in a poster or TV commercial," Karger says. "The Fault in Our Stars, on the other hand, had a built-in fan base thanks to the incredible success of the book and Shailene Woodley's rising star power."

Maleficent took second place with $33.5 million.

X-Men: Days of Future Past was fourth with $14.7 million, followed by the comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West with $7.2 million.

Final figures are expected Monday.