Paramount’s Darren Aronofsky/Russell Crowe gamble is paying off, hitting $45 million or so by Sunday night, a box office take well above expectations — which were in the mid-30s. That’s based on a big Friday, but we’ll see how Sat. goes.

Decent reviews propped this one up, the director’s edgy track record helped but you have to figure Crowe, religious audience and big apocalyptic epic crowd showed up. Somebody turned this into a hit.

“Divergent” held more than 45% of its opening weekend take, doing $25 or so.

“Sabotage” is bombing — $5 million? Arnie’s over. Done. Stop giving him vehicles.

“Cesar Chavez” did OK on a limited number of screens, under $3 overall, though.

“God’s Not Dead” is doing a steady $8 million a weekend, not losing any audience. That’s a hit.

But “Grand Budapest Hotel” got a big bounce this weekend and is well up the top ten, justifying its platform release strategy. Go see it!