Weekend Wrap-Up: Ultron has Disappointing Opening?
May 5, 2015
The Avengers: Age of Ultron is a strange film. Not only does it follow up on stories introduced in the first film, but also The Winter Soldier, and even the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show, etc. Not only that, but it also sets up plots that will be explored in Ragnarok, Civil War, Infinity War, etc. Because of that, there are elements in the movie that won't pay off for years, and some critics complained of bloat, which is a fair complaint, but might make the movie even better when more of these threads pay off. As for its box office opening, the film pulled in $191.27 million during its opening weekend domestically and worldwide it has already made enough to cover its entire production budget. Obviously the studio would have loved to have broken records, but they also have to be happy with the film's run so far.
Furious 7 was in a distant second place with $6.67 million over the weekend. This is lower than expected, but it hardly matters given its $331.10 million month-long haul.
The Age of Adaline held onto third place with $6.20 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $23.38 million. It will top its production budget shortly, so if it can find an audience internationally, it will earn a profit early in its home market run.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 was close behind with $5.88 million over the weekend for a total of $51.52 million. This is enough to make it a midlevel hit, so the studio should be happy, even if it didn't live up to its predecessor.
Home rounded out the top five with $3.47 million over the weekend for a total of $158.30 million after more than a month of release. Staying in the top five for more than a month is a great run and the studio should be proud of that result.
That question mark in the headline isn't a mistake, as some actually consider The Avengers: Age of Ultron's opening a disappointment, but I don't think that's fair. Sure, it opened below expectations, but it still managed more than $190 million, which is the second-biggest opening of all time. Some still consider this a disappointing opening, because the biggest opening film of all time was the original The Avengers. Second biggest opening weekend of all time and it is still considered a disappointment by some. We are living in a weird world. Overall, the box office was $233 million, which was 139% more than last weekend. It was also 51% more than the same weekend last year. Growth like this usually only happens when there is a misalignment in holidays, but it makes sense when you compare the openings of Age of Ultron and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. 2015's lead over 2014 nearly doubled over the weekend to $110 million at $3.38 billion to $3.28 billion. A 3.3% lead is not amazing, but it is enough that the industry should be more than happy.
Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, The Age of Adaline, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Home, Furious 7, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2