Weekend Wrap-Up for May 1-3, 2015

Age of Ultron Big – But Not Biggest

By John Hamann

May 3, 2015

Who ya gonna call? Hulk Buster!

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Fifth is DreamWorks Animation’s Home, which has now been in release for six weekends. Home earned $3.3 million this weekend, off 59% from the last frame. Home has had a good run domestically, earning $158.1 million; however, the $145 million earned overseas so far is a bit of a disappointment. These numbers sound big enough, but with a price tag of $135 million, it needs another $100 million in worldwide sales to see a theatrical profit.

One film in the top 10 did have a tiny drop. Sixth place finisher Cinderella declined only 15% from the previous frame for a weekend total of $2.4 million. The Disney live-action fairy tale adaptation has now earned a wonderful $193.7 million from domestic venues, and adds another $284 million from overseas locations.

Ex Machina falls to seventh, and the nerdy sci-fi flick is robbed of its audience by the fanboy-driven Avengers. Ex Machina earned $2.2 million and fell a nightmarish 58% from its $5.3 million take last weekend. The good news is that word-of-mouth could scoop this one up and carry it for a few weeks. So far, the Alex Garland critics’ choice has a domestic gross of $10.9 million, and the worldwide amount has reached about $20 million against a $16 million budget.

Unfriended is eighth this weekend, as the mini-budget horror flick continues to drop heavily. Unfriended and its $1 million production budget earned $2 million this weekend, off a woeful 68% compared to last weekend when it fell 61%. Universal doesn’t care – it has earned $28.5 million so far against that tiny budget.




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The Longest Ride is ninth, and it's starting to look like the Nicolas Sparks era might be coming to an end. Ride earned $1.7 million this weekend, dropping 60% and bringing the cumulative total up to $33.2 million. This one was made for $34 million, and doesn’t have the legs or foreign push to get it to profitability. The previous film, Best of Me, suffered the same fate, so hopefully that will drive these films underground.

Tenth is Woman in Gold, which got robbed of its screens. The Helen Mirren starrer could only muster $1.68 million this weekend, which gives it a decline of 50% due to the loss of 855 screens from its run. The $11 million Woman has now earned $24.6 million stateside, and has another $5 million plus from overseas theaters as well.

Overall, this weekend came in quite a bit lower than the weekend when the original Avengers opened. The original took the top 12 to $249.7 million, and the sequel came in with $221.1 million. That is the biggest top 12 of the year, and the biggest since Memorial Day 2013, when Fast and Furious 6 earned $97.4 million and three others earned more than $30 million. Next weekend, Age of Ultron will face off against Avengers history again, as it attempts to be the second film to earn more than $100 million in its second weekend (and Hot Pursuit opens as well).


Top Weekend Box Office for 5/1/15-5/3/15 (Estimates)
Rank Film Distributor Estimated Gross Weekly Change Running Total
1 Avengers: Age of Ultron Disney $187,656,000 New $187,656,000
2 Age of Adaline Lionsgate $6,250,000 - 53% $23,424,118
3 Furious 7 Universal $6,114,250 - 66% $330,538,605
4 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Sony $5,500,000 - 63% $51,200,000
5 Home $3,300,000 - 59% $158,132,000
6 Cinderella Disney $2,357,000 - 15% $193,651,000
7 Ex Machina New Line Cinema $2,230,576 - 58% $10,868,213
8 Unfriended Universal $1,987,795 - 68% $28,531,460
9 The Longest Ride Fox $1,700,000 - 60% $33,240,000
10 Woman In Gold Weinstein Co. $1,681,000 - 50% $24,588,473
11 Monkey Kingdom Disney $1,191,000 - 65% $12,482,000
12 Get Hard WARNER BROS. $1,150,000 - 69% $86,168,000
  Also Opening/Notables
  Far From the Maddening Crowd FOX SEARCHLIGHT $172,000 New $172,000
  Welcome To Me Alchemy $38,168 New $38,168
  Days of Grace Cinema Libre $2,483 New $2,483
  Little Boy Open Road Films $792,105 - 71% $4,161,720
  The Water Diviner WARNER BROS. $659,000 - 46% $2,333,000
  Adult Beginners Radius/TWC $25,060 - 32% $71,300
  While We're Young A24 $436,458 - 60% $6,445,058
  The Divergent Series: Insurgent Lionsgate $925,000 - 69% $126,492,025
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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