The Age of Ultron’s debut trailed the original 2012 Avengers’ total by 9%, and many analysts believe that piracy-plagued major prize fight between Manny Paquiao and Floyd Mayweather hurt Saturday night attendance and kept Age of Ultron from hitting the $200 million mark. Age of Ulton earned $84 million on Friday, which was buoyed by $27.6 million on Thursday (see "'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Opens Big Thursday"), moving it ahead of the 2012 Avengers’ Friday take of $80.8 million, but lagged badly on Saturday night when it earned $57.2 million vs. $69.6 million for the 2012 Avengers.
Was the Saturday night drop a result of competition from the long-awaited prize fight that was available on pay-per-view, where it earned a reported $400 million (and was also heavily pirated), or was it an indication that Age of Ultron’s audience was especially front-loaded? Only time will tell whether Avengers: Age of Ultron manages to match the original Avengers $1.5 billion worldwide total, but it is clear that the Avengers sequel had a massive debut, and the opening weekend audience, which was 59% male and 60% over 25, clearly liked the film, giving it an solid “A” CinemaScore (versus an “A+” rating for the original Avengers, which was the first successful big budget superhero team-up film). Families made up 22% of the opening weekend crowd, and teens accounted for 12%, so Age of Ultron does have 4-quadrant potential.
At first glance then it would appear that Avengers: Age of Ultron, which faces more competition in the coming weeks than the original Avengers did early in its run (the heavily-hyped Mad Max: Fury Road drops in 2 weeks), might well end up earning less in the North American market than its predecessor, but it could still make up the difference overseas. So far Age of Ultron has earned $439 million overseas, and it still has China (the world’s second biggest movie market), where it opens on May 12, and Japan (July 4) to go.
The Age of Ultron’s massive debut gives Marvel/Disney the top three openings in North American box office history (The Avengers, Age of Ultron, and Iron Man 3 in that order). In fact so far only Marvel-based movies have managed to crack the $170 million mark for a 3-day opening. Next weekend will be key to assessing the domestic run of Age of Ultron, which at this point appears to be a lock to pass the $400 million mark and easily surpass Furious 7’s domestic total (currently at $330.5 million). If it was the fight that held down attendance on Saturday night, it stands to reason that those folks, who might have gone to the movies on fight night, will get around to seeing the film over the next few weeks.
Age of Ultron definitely benefited from higher ticket prices from large screen luxury venues. Thanks largely to Ultron, IMAX theaters managed to post the company’s first $30 million weekend ever, and nearly 17% of all domestic ticket buyers saw Ultron on the biggest screen available. The massive opening also vindicates Disney's all-encompassing marketing efforts for the $250 million production that included 4 trailers, 16 clips, more than 40 different TV spots and hordes of tie-in commercials.
With no other new films debuting and every holdover in the top 10 suffering at least a 50% decline (with the exception of Disney’s Cinderella, which likely vaulted back into the top 10 as the alternative choice for younger kids), Age of Ultron’s massive debut was pretty much the entire box office story this weekend.
Be sure to check back here next weekend to see how Age of Ultron fares in its second frame, and if the Sofia Vergara/Reese Witherspoon comedy Hot Pursuit or the Jack Black indie comedy D Train can make an impression on the box office.
--Tom Flinn
