By Chris Kavan - 05/25/15 at 09:15 PM CT
Memorial Day weekend is usually not a barn-burner when it comes to weekend grosses. That being said, this year was a ho-hum state of affairs as, year-to-year, the weekend was off about 19% compared to last year. One could argue this year didn't offer up enough of a compelling slate, even with George Clooney front and center, thus leading to the lackluster results. Don't worry, the summer is stuffed full of major sequels, superheros and family films and going forward it looks to be one of the strongest summers in a long time.
1) TOMORROWLAND
Disney was probably hoping they would have as much luck with this live-action film-based-on-an-attraction as they had with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. If they were hoping for major fireworks, they had to be a bit disappointed. Tomorrowland did open in first place, but had to settle for a rather meager $32.9 million for the weekend ($41.7 million including Memorial Day). That total puts in 22nd place all time in between forgettable titles Epic ($42.8M back in 2013) and the 2010 film Prince of Persia: Sands of Time ($37.8M). It was nowhere near the record set by Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - whose $139 million opening seems like it will stand for awhile. Despite some good marketing efforts and the fact it was rated a family-friendly PG, it apparently just didn't spark too much interest in audiences - who awarded is a similarly mediocre "B" Cinemascore. Worldwide it had a quiet opening as well, taking in $26.7 million in 65 territories. Domestically, it's looking like $75 million may be about the best it can hope for - and considering it's pricey $190 million price tag, even with internationally grosses it may be lucky to just break even.
2)
PITCH PERFECT 2
The acapella-pleasing women of Pitch Perfect 2 almost made it two weeks in a row, but it took a pretty large 56% hit in its second weekend and dropped to second place with $30.8 million ($38.5 million for the holiday frame) - that was enough for the film to cross the $100 million mark, at least, as it now stands at $126 million - nearly double the take that Pitch Perfect made in its entire run ($65 million). It looks particularly good when you take in the face Pitch Perfect 2 has no large format, IMAX or 3D to boost its ticket numbers. Expect this one to continue to hit all the right notes as $150 million is certain at this point - and it should be able to rise even higher.
3)
MAX MAX: FURY ROAD
It turns out that Fury Road also has some gas left in its tank. It managed to avoid the 50% drop and took just a 45% dip. The adrenaline-rush of an action movie took in another $24.8 million ($32.1 for the holiday) for a new total of $95.5 million. It should have not problem crossing the $100 mark in the next few days. Taking in worldwide grosses, it is actually ahead of Pitch Perfect 2 ($212 million versus $187.1 million). Granted, Max Max obviously had a much bigger budget - so the comparison probably offsets itself. Max should continue to play well with San Andreas and Jurassic World being its biggest direct competition in the coming weeks.
4)
POLTERGEIST
The week's other only new wide release film was the remake of Poltergeist. The unnecessary (in my mind) reboot opened in line with expectations to $22.9 million ($26.5 million including the holiday). It was boosted by 3D tickets, which accounted for 41% of its total. The audience was tipped slightly to female (55%) and also younger (59% under 25). Like most horror films, it was front-loaded and earned just a "C+" Cinemascore. Among recent horror remakes, it was on the lower end - just below the $23.5 million of The Amityville Horror and well below that of Friday the 13th ($40.57 million). Of note is that Poltergeist is just PG-13 as well - though even with a modest budget it will be lucky if it can reach what the original Poltergeist took in all the way back in 1982 ( $76.6). The marketing for this one was pretty intensive as well (both in social media and with paranormal expert Christopher Chacon) thus we'll see how well it can hold up in coming weeks, though if past horror films are any indication, it will have to settle for around $50 million.
5)
THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
Rounding out the top five was Marvels current Juggernaut, The Avengers: Age of Ultron. It dipped a spot, and was down about 44% compared to last week. The $21.7 million weekend ($27.8 million including Memorial Day - which actually puts it ahead of Poltergeist) helped it to cross the $400 million mark. Age of Ultron now stands at $411 million. It added another $200 million thanks to China on the international market, and has now amassed $800 million overseas. It currently stands at $1.2 billion total - and it quickly approached Furious 7 at $1.5 billion and should, in short order, pass that film to become the highest-grossing of the year (it already holds that honor in the U.S.).
Nothing else to report outside the top five this week - given the slow holiday, it's not that big of a surprise. Next weekend will see the release of another action-overload in the Dwayne Johnson-led San Andreas as well as the latest from Cameron Crowe, the Hawaiian-set Aloha with Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone and Rachel McAdams. We'll see if big earthquakes and pretty young people will capture audiences better than Tomorroland.
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