The movie adaptation of Divergent, the young adult novel by Veronica Roth, has recorded a massive opening at the box-office despite middling reviews. Though it would have be nice for the movie to have scored reviews akin to, say, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Lionsgate executives will not have worried about the critical reaction and the movie tallied $4.9 million from midnight screenings on Thursday alone.

DivergentShailene Woodley [L] in 'Divergent'

By Friday, studio estimates placed its total at $22.8 million - miles away from the $67.3 million taken by The Hunger Games and $36 million taken by Twilight on the opening day of release.

Estimates suggest Divergent - starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James - will reach around $55 million for the weekend and that should reach $100 million by next week.

Elsewhere, Disney's Muppets Most Wanted scored only $4.7 million on Friday and is tracking for a $15 million weekend - a fairly disappointing number given the Ricky Gervais movie was praised by critics.

God's Not Dead took a solid $2.8 million to take third place on Friday, while the hugely successful Mr Peabody & Sherman took a further $2.7 million to take its total to $72 million. 300: Rise of an Empire is still hanging around and took an additional $2.4 million to bring a very respectable $87.5 million in total.

"Though its main appeal will be to those who read the book and are young adults either in fact or in spirit, "Divergent" does have something for the rest of us and that's the chance to see the pair of performers who make that romantic music together," said Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times, in one of the more positive views on Divergent.

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Watch the 'Divergent' featurette: