Avengers Assemble... Your Loot!
Sunday, May 3, 2015 at 3:29PM 
As expected Marvel's latest evil plot for world domination was a significant success at the box office. The US opening took in an estimated $187.6 but that's just the beginning of its gross and in addition to what it's already earned overseas ($340 million). Even though its launch wasn't as successful as its predecessor, it should still end the year comfortably with crazy big grosses. How high can it fly? Expect a big drop-off domestically next weekend since audiences and critics seem grumpier this time. I personally don't think that's so much about the movie itself as it is about the increasing ubiquity of its genre. It will be harder and harder for these films to wow people as their ranks have grown so swiftly. The special becomes the standard and so forth.
In 'it's about time' news, Furious 7 had a big percentage drop and lost 500 theaters. In far more curious news Cinderella one of the year's leggiest hits somehow rebounded (second run houses?) to return to the top ten despite losing more theaters.
WIDE RELEASE
01 Avengers: Age of Ultron $187.6 NEW Review & Marathon
02 Age of Adaline $6.2 (cum. $23.4) Trailer discussion
03 Furious 7 $6.1 (cum. $330.5) Review
04 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 $5.5 (cum. $51.1)
05 Home $3.3 (cum. $158.1) the rise and fall of Dreamworks
06 Cinderella $2.3 (cum. $193.6) Review
07 Ex-Machina $2.2 (cum. $10.8) Review
08 Unfriended $1.9 (cum. $28.5)
09 The Longest Ride $1.7 (cum. $33.2)
10 Woman in Gold $1.6 (cum. $24.5)
Limited releases were fairly quiet this week though Far From the Madding Crowd opened with $172,000 at 10 locations and Clouds of Sils Maria got a nice expansion and should soon cross the million dollar mark.
What did you see this weekend?
Reader Comments (10)
I'm not sure it was a good strategy to open Far From the Madding Crowd on the same weekend as the Avengers. Last year Belle did okay against Amazing Spiderman 2 but that movie made half of what Age of Ultron will make in its opening weekend.
So I went to the movies thinking I was going to see "Tangerine" but ended up watching this Estonian movie called "TangerineS" (plural). I guess I couldn't enjoy it on its own terms because I was so upset that it wasn't "Tangerine" (singular) :(
BVR -- ohhh. i figured that would happen to a few people. Well, at least you got to see one of the Oscar nominees from last year. (but yes look forward to Tangerine. It's so fun!)
Jackie -- yeah, counterprogramming has its ups and downs. maybe if it had opened a little wider than 10 theaters to provide actual counterprogramming?
I saw While We're Young and It Follows, and liked both a great deal (It Follows is brilliant.)
WWY has a few problems here and there - but Stiller is GREAT in it, and that's not something we get to see enough anymore.
Going out to Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter later this week, and will probably give Avengers a pass this summer.
Saw "Paddington" on DVD- inventive without being too twee. Won't be going on Kidman's highlights reel, but she doesn't embarrass herself; Sally Hawkins brings a lot to the material.
Hitting up the Chicago Critics fest later this week - catching "Me and Earl", "The Overnight", and "Night Owls"
Saw Far From the Madding Crowd, or, Part III of Matthias Schoenaerts' half-interested/visibly bored rambles through the past. The highlight was Carey Mulligan's beautiful song (which is featured prominently in one of the trailers...) and/or Michael Sheen's fascinating interpretation of gentleman-as-put-upon-recluse. An interesting and rich part I undone by a plodding/predictable part II.
I'm surprised by that. Matthias looks a lot more interested in the Madding Crowd trailer/clips than in A Little Chaos.
I was amongst the crowd of Avengers viewers over the weekend, and this new addition doesn't taste as good as the previous offering, though I fancied it for what it is. As a life-long Baltimore resident, however, I did see parallel themes between the movie and what we experienced here all last week with respect to "keeping peace" and "restoring order."
Dave S.: Coincidentally, I managed to catch the last third or so of Paddington on TV yesterday, and I agree that Hawkins bring much more to the material that it actually deserves, which is a good thing.
I had a busy movie weekend.
In theaters I saw:
-Ex Machina, brilliant slow burn of a movie, it really snuck on me - it's so nice to be surprised by a movie once in a while
-Avengers 2, a big, messy kitchen sink of a movie that I enjoyed quite a bit.
At home I watched:
-Beyond the Reach - rock solid B-Movie with a deliciously hammy Michael Douglas and a deliciously shirtless Jeremy Irvine
-Far From Men great Viggo performance in a pseudo-western that plays like a 50s Anthony Mann film, which is about the highest compliment I can pay it
-Silent Youth, a lovely, understated LGBT movie that I randomly stumbled across on Hulu Plus
I saw The Way He Looks based solely on this site pointing it out. A lovely little movie that surprisingly contained a few beautiful, almost haunting images. Makes me wonder how blind people actually dream - did the director get ideas for that dream sequence from his actor? From other blind people?